"His head got bigger, and I just couldn’t look at him anymore" – The most ordinary reason someone got divorced

For a while, I attended kung fu classes. My master was a man in his forties, and his attractive wife regularly joined the sessions too. After a few years, she lost interest in kung fu, and the master was heartbroken. He said kung fu isn’t just a martial art—it’s a philosophy and a lifestyle. He couldn’t be with someone who didn’t feel the same. They divorced.

During sex, my ex-husband—a big, hairy alpha male—made noises so annoyingly squirrel-like that I just couldn’t take it anymore.

I’m a divorce lawyer, and once a client—a man in his fifties—confided that he was divorcing because his wife “was no longer twenty.” They had three kids and several properties, but he just wanted a younger woman.

In 2004, in China, two philosophy professors divorced over differing views on Hegel’s absolute idealism. Li Cheng, a professor at Nanking University, wrote an article on the topic that his wife disagreed with. A few weeks later, he announced he couldn’t live with someone who thought differently, and they mutually ended their marriage.

A woman came to our law office—not joking—because she wanted to divorce so she could remarry her husband “like in the movies.” They’d been together for five years and had grandchildren. She wanted a little drama, but not the real kind. She’d even picked out a new wedding dress because she wasn’t happy with her original one. Her husband patiently played along, but the surprise came when it turned out he never planned to marry her again.

This is a true story. My brother lives in the US, and his neighbor’s wife—a devoted Democrat—was so upset when Donald Trump won the presidency that she declared she hated white men. She divorced and started dating only Black men. Her husband was baffled because he hadn’t even voted for Trump!

My ex left me because I gained 22 pounds (10 kg) after giving birth, and dancing with me wasn’t as fun anymore. I weighed 65 kg (143 lbs) instead of 55 kg (121 lbs), and he couldn’t lift or spin me as easily. But let’s not forget, he wasn’t as strong as he was in his twenties either—and he carried about 66 pounds (30 kg) of extra weight himself.

My grandmother’s neighbor divorced his wife because she showered every day instead of every other day. This man was extremely stingy and saw daily showers as a huge waste of water he couldn’t tolerate.

My ex had perfect skin—really flawless. He didn’t do anything special, no cleansing or moisturizing. I spend a fortune on skincare, yet my skin never looks that good. Three times, he even used my expensive face wash to shower and rubbed it all over his body—not out of meanness, just carelessness. I got so mad at how inattentive he was that I decided I wouldn’t have children with him.