11 November 2009

I was just flipping through my all-time favourite magazine, Cleo (October 2009) an hour ago when I came across an eye-catching title “What’s Your Market Value?” at Page 136.

The usual and typical comments on women’s market value we hear daily will be women who are still single at 30’s and ambitious to climb all corporate ladders are the ones with low market value. This is because they scare men who are think they are incomparable away. Once a friend told me, as the lady ages into late 20’s, her market value drops gradually. This is because she is no longer youthful and attractive as she used to be at her early 20’s. It will be worse if she hits the big 3-0. Gosh! I’m sure you have heard this from your girlfriends.

Let me come back to this magazine. According to the author, Tania Gomez, she suggests that single ladies should know what they are worth in the market. One should know whether she is a sound investment or a major risk; for all you know, one’s dating-market “value” could be pushing away potential buyers when it comes to love and relationships.

This is really interesting as I read on. The author and the people she referred to in her article, agree that the most interesting (and most vital) thing about the concept of the market value is that it plays a bigger part in your romantic success than you realise. Your market value is essentially half dependent on your own view of yourself and half dependent on market perception. Sounds deep and confusing, right?

Oh well, what the author(s) are trying to explain is, a woman have to be determined and willing to support herself for success in the open market. It is suggested that it is neither too difficult or easy to become a stock favourite. All she needs to understand is how to up her value in an appropriate upwards trend. Thus, it is ultimately important that she has to believe that she is a good investment before she expects others to think the same way as she does. If she does not have faith in herself, how does she expect others to consider investing in her? At the end of the day, it boils down to the individual woman’s perspective.

For example, men actually think that a woman with one of the highest market value will be the one with non-nagging habits, allowing their freedom to be out of women’s control, no preventing them from living the lifestyle they want and being the girl who is all-fun-loving-caring-but-not-clingy. Wow! Did you see that? Would you like to reread this paragraph? I did. Thrice.

Give me 3 seconds to laugh out loud. Why?

Cleo actually gives a list of Bankable Boys. Well, if men can measure market values of women, Cleo thinks that every girl’s list should include the following:-
- Someone who knows his way around the kitchen (not just opening the fridge to grab your beer or Coke)
- The ability to dress/ groom himself (hair gel is a mundane, please exclude that)
- A guy with direction and lots of ambition
- A good communicator
- Someone who’s thoughtful, kind and caring
- Intelligence (he doesn’t need to have a Nobel Prize in Science or Literature but he should have interests more than the bachelor’s degree)
- A terrific sense of humour (the one that makes me laugh the most will win my heart )
- A slight resemblance to errr….. errr…. (I think I better not mention it here. wishing something which is unreal is not good…)

Enough of crap from the magazine. I hope you will think of ways to goreng your market value up up up up!!