Patton ’77 discusses marriage, sexual assault at panel discussion
Durva TrivediSusan Patton ’77, who recently released her new book, “Marry Smart,” urged women to accept sole responsibility for their own happiness on Thursday at an emotionally charged and at times chaotic panel discussion on campus. “It’s disempowering to tell women they’re not responsible for the situations they find themselves in,” Patton said. Some audience members reacted with angry outbursts at Patton’s discussion of her views on sexual assault, which were recently criticized in a recent letter to the editor from University faculty. Along with fellow writers and panelists Sara Eckel and Claire Fallon ’10, Patton discussed marriage, sexual assault, work-life balance and feminism. Fallon is the Books Editor for The Huffington Post and wrote anarticleentitled, "The 10 Worst Pieces of Advice from Susan Patton's 'Marry Smart.’"Eckel is the author of "It's Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons You're Single" and has written anarticlein response to Patton's book, "Why We Can All Relax and Ignore the Princeton Mom." Patton suggested that for undergraduate women at the University who see marriage and family as critical for their happiness in the future, it’s important that they start planning early on. “I don’t like the term 'husband-hunting' per se, and I’d rather we say, 'searching for a meaningful relationship,'” Patton said.
