Re Squeak and the Syrian community: how many more of these boys, proportionately are working or starting to work? I don’t, really don’t, want to blame the proliferation of kollel as the culprit, but this is a major factor in the shifts over the last 30 years. NOT a bad thing if people would behave properly in the process. But they’re not, sadly.
THIS is where the real crisis lies, IMO, and why so much is stagnating for the girls. That and that boys have been influenced by outside culture. Not that boys haven’t always wanted good looking girls, but the definition has changed. Slim, and maybe even borderline chubby, girls were still considered beautifuly. Now for many it’s unhealthy supermodel.