 (Nick Galifianakis for The Post) | Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: I grew up in an upper-middle-class household. I was given a great education, and my family traveled and taught me about art and literature; in other words, I was given a lot of cultural capital. However, my family was still firmly working for money — not blue-bloody, not *rich.* My grandmother and other elders often expressed things such as, "It's just as easy to love a rich man as a poor man," or, "Marry for money. If you want love, get a puppy." Well, I didn't take that route. Instead, through hard work in a lucrative and male-dominated field, I have made a lot of money myself. I married someone I love very much but who is most certainly not the rich, blue-bloody man my family thought was for me. I feel as if I come up against this a lot in both my family and in society at large: the mentality that woman marries rich man > woman creates her own livelihood and works hard for it. The mentality irritates me, and sometimes I feel inferior for the path I have taken. But I wouldn't change my path, as it is authentic to me. What are your thoughts on this trope and how to bust it? Was it just my family pumping me with this "goal," or is it universal? — Married for Love | 
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