hey north.
if you can't be yourself in marriag, then dont marry.
In my experience, alot of women are like the others have described, but not all women.
my current girl friend, lives in a seperate house from me even after 4 years seeing each other.
when she asks what clothes look like i just give the flat answer 'they look chit, fat arse'. after she got used to this not being a real insult it now saves me the trouble of thinking of an answer as she expects this retort.

i dont spend money on her ever, and she not on me. we have a £10 ($17) limit on birthday and christmas which is amazingly fun, and i never buy her cards.
she agrees with me that valentines day is another pimp day for the card companies. thats another one gone.
she understands that as my girl shes has.....er...certain physical obligations to me. yes there are women out there that dont consider themselves the one that deserves the speacial treatment. this girl actually wants to please me to stop me fooling around with anyone else. but then i do the same for her.
her period is never a problem, she simply tells me to 'not bother seeing her till next thursday' as we 'cant have any fun anyhow'
she earns more than me, and has never once expected me to pay for anything out of turn. I buy the first round of drinks she buys the next.
shes swears she doesnt want kids or marriage till 35-40 years old (that gives us about 10-15 years more fun)
then again, shes has been an evil b1tch to me on many occasions, and ive shouted at her like no one else ive been mad at.
hmm, im getting on a bit now, better stop.
all im saying is, there is the perfect girl for you out there somewhere. DONT marry just because you got nothing better right now, marry cos you KNOW its the right thing.