Wow. Those commenters sound like horrible people. I would never want to be in a relationship with someone so disrespectful and mean. On the other hand, I've endured some hard times in my marriage to a moody man who doesn't show much affection. I feel lucky we're not in a "tolerable level of permanent unhappiness" now. I think if we were, I would look for the exit. Life is too short to waste it. For me, there were complex reasons I wanted to stay and I'm glad that I did. But I read and believe that you can tell how well a country treats its women by its divorce rate. The higher the rate, the better the environment for women. Having the capacity to leave must be the baseline for any relationship if the people in it are to treat each other with love and decency.