Not even beautiful people have it easy.

Just a few weeks ago, Gwyneth Paltrow -- People magazine's most beautiful woman in the world -- confessed that marriage is hard and it takes work.

"It's hard being married. You go through great times, you go through terrible...

''I had wanted to get married," poet Jill Bialosky once wrote, "but I realized now that I had never wanted to be a wife.''

There's something about being a wife that causes some women to feel diminished -- "an asexual being who is long-suffering and exists only to...

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been in the headlines a lot in recent years, and not because of their movies. They're either on the verge of divorce or they have an open marriage -- and I'm not sure which horrifies people more.

I can...

There are a few things Becca Friedman learned while filming her documentary on geriatric animals, but one resonated with her most -- it isn't any easier for animals to age than it is for humans.

It's not something most people think about.

"We're all very much alike when it comes...

Poor marriage! Many believe it's under assault, what with gays and lesbians wanting in and about 50 percent of heteros wanting out. So the Institute for American Values has been hosting symposiums, looking to get Hollywood to make pro-marriage movies, passing legislation to stop divorce, and making more...

"So, what are you and 'J' going to do?" a friend asked recently.

"J" is my boyfriend and we do a lot of things, some of which I'm much too discreet to discuss publicly. I needed clarification.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you ever going to get married or live...

Not too long ago, I asked a friend how she's doing. After a long pause, she said, "I keep wondering if this is all there is."

A lot of us have that feeling.

She and I are both 50-something and like many 50-somethings, we are empty-nesters or about to be...

It seems that whenever anyone talks about divorce, the C word comes up -- commitment.
The problem with couples today, the typical comment goes, is that they just don't know what commitment means.

OK, so what does commitment in a marriage mean?

It isn't declaring, "I like this relationship...

When it comes to divorce, everyone is concerned about the kids. Not that everyone who divorces has kids, but we don't seem to have as much angst about child-free couples who divorce as we do about those who have kids -- especially young kids.

For all our studies...

When does your sex life become anyone else's business (other than, obviously, the person you're sleeping with)?

Apparently when you're a retired four-star general and the director of the CIA.

Many were shocked at David Petraeus' announcement last week that he was resigning because of an extramarital affair....

You've been waiting for your husband to come home from serving in the military overseas.
You're not sure what to expect, but all your favorite women's magazines and websites, advice columnists and TV relationships experts are telling you that the fate of your marriage rests in your hands.

It's no wonder that Pablo Sandoval was named the MVP when the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers. Among other things, the San Francisco Giants third baseman hit three home runs in the first game of the World Series -- a rarity.

His performance in this World Series was...

I'm as big a fan of failure as anyone. After all, we often learn our most important lessons from making mistakes and trying again. We rarely get things perfect on the first try. Even Thomas Edison supposedly made 1,000 attempts at crafting a light bulb until he got it right....

Among the many poignant moments in Michelle Obama's electrifying speech at the Democratic Convention this week was an ode to her father.

"You see, for my dad, that's what it meant to be a man. Like so many of us, that was the measure of his success in...

Your friend tells you he's getting divorced. You're shocked because he and his wife always seemed like the perfect couple. You're worried for them and their young kids, and their divorce causes you to reflect about a lot of things you've observed about marriage.

You know enough from your own...

Anthropology, calculus, sociology, biology -- if you have a child in college, it's likely he or she is learning something about those topics, much of which they may forget once they graduate. But there's one topic many young adults are learning about while they're getting their degree that they may...

One wants a baby, the other doesn't, yet -- can this marriage be saved?

Not Katy Perry and Russell Brand's 14-month marriage, evidently. According to reports this week, the singer and comedian split because Brand, at age 37, was eager to start a family and Perry, 27,...

My son's high school graduation was a sea of faces filled with a mix of joy, exhaustion, sadness and uncertainty -- not just the 18-year-olds', but their parents'.

Despite the crappy economy and college cutbacks, the kids are going to be fine. I can't say the same about the parents,...

It's a tough time to be a dad.

Years ago, the dad role was pretty easy to slide into -- he went to work every day to support his wife and kids, reprimanded the kids at night if they were naughty, and mowed the lawn, washed the car and manned...

Maybe you've just moved in with your boyfriend. Maybe you've just started dating a guy who seems special. Maybe you've got a friends with benefits situation that seems to be working for now.

Then you miss your period, even though you're using birth control. An at-home pregnancy test proves what...