"I wonder if part of the problem isn't that men don't have male friends they can talk to the way women do??? and therefore need that companionship and of course looking after!"
Hmmm. That's interesting. Despite astute observations that there are biological differences between men and women(
Yes, I get it 
, I wonder if the real issue is the fact that couples can become a world unto themselves and when that world comes apart, and there's no other strong support stepping up, there is a desire to recreate that. Ok..pretty basic assumption as well. Let me explain. Being single, I notice many friends don't have time for friends once they get married. I totally understand it, especially when children are born. But I wonder if folks with really strong friend networks begin dating as early as those that don't. I know at least one occassion where I lost a close friend and soon thereafter found myself pursuing a realtionship that really wasn't right but I was filling in blanks myself trying to make it seem right. Because it really felt like a little sun pouring in during a dark time. After I started leaning on my family and friends, I could eventually see what was going on. Eh..it's a "hypothesis generating" question. Now I shut my pie hole.