re: A friend of mine is getting disowned by some family members for divorcing wife that

I just wanted to point out that from this explanation in the OP:

quote:

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He told me that it is costing him a fortune in child support etc., but that he would rather live in a studio apartment and eat peanut butter for the rest of his life than to wake up and have to look at her for the rest of his life.

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We have probably dozens of people who seem to believe the guy in question expects to have plenty of sex with younger and more attractive women.

That seems like a strawman. Dude is going to be poor and not desirable. From what we've been told about the situation he doesn't expect to improve his sexual opportunities. He just wants out of the toxic relationship in which neither partner loves each other.

As a cultural stereotype we are comfortable with criticism directed at men and much less likely to critique women. The guy would seem like a possible example of this.

He will be doing worse than the ex wife in every metric after they separate including social support, access to the children, and financial outcomes (she can expect the house, child support, alimony, and social support).

In my single years I dated a couple of divorced single mothers. They outright admitted gaining weight with pregnancy because they didn't care anymore. But after the divorce they lost that weight so they could date with more success. 30 pounds overweight is a lot but 100 pounds is a problem she needs to address and others should never excuse (if they care about her or her family).