I'm still a little unclear on the use of "settling" in this context, at least as a word on its own. Are we talking about "settling for"? "Settling" a newly discovered territory? "Settling" as one of those words that looks stranger and stranger the more times you type it? Could you unpack a bit?
"Settling", the way Gottlieb uses it, and the way it's generally used, means you settle for someone who is not your ideal, and not Mr. Right, because it's -- one assumes -- better than nothing. It usually denotes marriage; you don't choose to "settle" for a boyfriend, but you might not marry a boyfriend because he's not Mr. Right, and staying with him would be settling.
If you read the Gottlieb article, and see how she uses the term, you'll probably have more unpacking than you can stomach *wry g*.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-03-12 09:51 pm (UTC)"Settling", the way Gottlieb uses it, and the way it's generally used, means you settle for someone who is not your ideal, and not Mr. Right, because it's -- one assumes -- better than nothing. It usually denotes marriage; you don't choose to "settle" for a boyfriend, but you might not marry a boyfriend because he's not Mr. Right, and staying with him would be settling.
If you read the Gottlieb article, and see how she uses the term, you'll probably have more unpacking than you can stomach *wry g*.