Lori Gottlieb’s article “Marry Him!” in the March issue of the Atlantic Monthly has been causing quite the stir among late 20 and 30-something women. Gottlieb, who never married and is now raising a child on her own, makes the argument that women should stop being so damn picky while looking for Mr. Right and just settle for Mr. Not So Bad.

She writes: “My advice is this: Settle! That’s right. Don’t worry about passion or intense connection. Don’t nix a guy based on his annoying habit of yelling “Bravo!” in movie theaters. Overlook his halitosis or abysmal sense of aesthetics. Because if you want to have the infrastructure in place to have a family, settling is the way to go.”

The argument goes like this: when it comes to taking out the trash, changing diapers and paying half the rent, any man is better than no man. So if women keep trying to find that man of their dreams (who Gottlieb says doesn’t exist “precisely because you dreamed him up“), they will end up alone and depressed.

Not sure if Gottlieb is right that being with Mr. Not So Bad is better than being alone. I’ve seen my fair share of divorces, and they are pretty damn ugly. Making dinner with Mr. Not So Bad is one thing. Marrying, having kids, getting divorced and then putting your children through misery is quite another.

That said, when my own husband left his dirty socks by the front door for the umpteenth time last night, I bit my lip.