Wasn't Shirley Jones in the Partridge Family a widow?
I think you pretty much hit it with the "marryin' kind" comment, as did swordandmug in his idea about the widower being sympathetic vs. the divorce' being a joke. Widowers, especially ones with children, also evoke the nurturing impulse in women, because clearly he needs the kind of help only a woman can provide to survive. :-)
Also, the numbers are with them. Widows are a dime a dozen, actuarial facts being what they are. Ask anyone who works in a nursing home - single men are prized and cosseted by the ladies because there are so few of them.
And, of course, widows aren't considered as sexy as widowers for the same reason Sean Connery got to be sexy at 70 but... um... so what 70-year-old actresses are there out there? Judy Dench? Maggie Smith? Well, in any case, you don't see them cast as love interests too often.
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I think you pretty much hit it with the "marryin' kind" comment, as did swordandmug in his idea about the widower being sympathetic vs. the divorce' being a joke. Widowers, especially ones with children, also evoke the nurturing impulse in women, because clearly he needs the kind of help only a woman can provide to survive. :-)
Also, the numbers are with them. Widows are a dime a dozen, actuarial facts being what they are. Ask anyone who works in a nursing home - single men are prized and cosseted by the ladies because there are so few of them.
And, of course, widows aren't considered as sexy as widowers for the same reason Sean Connery got to be sexy at 70 but... um... so what 70-year-old actresses are there out there? Judy Dench? Maggie Smith? Well, in any case, you don't see them cast as love interests too often.
In any case, I try not to worry about it, myself.