Letters to the Editor
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I love this woman.
"Though it might be a harder sell to the guys raised to believe they were born to manhandle their wives on demand but never touch a toilet brush."
This is offensive misandrony, and for that matter, trite boilerplate "men-don't-clean" horseshit. If you want to be snide and somewhat offensive, at least give us a laugh, like I'm not doing.
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..brother...
..happier marriages eh? Depends on how you define happiness.
Human beings who have not evolved much pschologically or emotionally probably function fairly well in such an arrangement. But that's the only kind of human who could. If the alternative is family chaos (see any book on family therapy for a definition--similar to chaotic personality disorder, but involving two or more parties in a nuclear family), this arrangement would be regarded as a big improvement, appalling as that may be.
This story reminded me of a vivid tableau in the PBS documentary *The Mormons.* One of the "happy Mormon families" profiled in the show is sitting around a table praying. There are seven children, and the parents. All I could think was "how many undiscussibles are there in this family? The list would be longer than the Old Testament." You could tell. There's a lot of stuff that would just not exist for these people. And the pressure of all that stuff makes for problems. Sooner, or later.
It's a life. But not much of one, ultimately.
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The Tom Leykis explanation
Ok. Now that I see a picture of Laura Doyle, I get it. If you looked like Ms. Doyle, the only way you'd every get a husband, let alone keep one, is if you became his slave.
I know. This is not nice. But, like many things Leykis says about relations between men and women, it's not nice. But it is true. In general, if not in every specific case.
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Oh behave!
With all due respect, I object! I am sick and tired of people using Genghis Khan as an example of a grunting savage. The man was actually well known for his social refinement (mostly, of course, in his later years when he became leader of a vast Empire) and built capital city that was renowned as a hub of learning and arts that rivaled even contemporary China.
So please, if you MUST choose an example of an uncivilized male barbarian from a very long list of historical personages, use someone like, say, Mark Anthony (whilst hung over, vomited into his toga during a session of the Roman Senate) or Grigori Rasputin (was famous for eschewing silverware while eating) or Rush Limbaugh (not really a historical personage, but quite uncivilized). Leave Genghis Khan (or Attila the Hun, for that matter) alone.
Thank you.
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Read all about it, Man Bites Dog !!
Which is what this about. For every post modern poor poor oppressed white collar college educated wife cowering and clutching a spatula there's 10,000 stereotypic sitcom useless husb-drones who dare not express an opinion or a thought in front of She Who Must be Obeyed.
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Funny...
Feminism gives great lipservice to self determination for women, but when women make choices that the feminst elite don't like, suddenly it's not about choice, it's about ideology. It seems that feminists don't want women to do what men want, but what an elite group of privileged caucasian women want. Anything short of blatant misandry is decried as misogyny.
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given the realities of biology AND the modern technology driven economy where physical strength is irrelevant
I think everyone can be confident that there is absolutley ZERO chance that wifely submissiveness will ever become a widespread or long term trend in the modern world.
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Surrendered Wife
I just have one question: If I get my wife to surrender to me, will she still support the family? Because if not, it doesn't seem like a good enough deal.
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For god's sake (literally)
Is anyone surprised by this? These groups, run by born-again fundies, are disseminating a viewpoint that comes STRAIGHT from their religous handbook! How is this any kind of surprise to anyone? Their bible explicitly states that women are supposed to Shut The Fuck Up in any situation, and just take whatever their man dishes out. They're only practicing what they preach, after all.
I agree that this mindset treats men like children. But if you take a good look at their religion, EVERYONE is treated like a child. Humans are supposed to, again, Shut The Fuck Up and take whatever their "father" dishes out, because we're all just lowly babies who were created only to stoke the ego of that god with praise and caterwauling at every possible moment. If we try to gainsay him, he'll "smite" us. The home is supposed to be an EXACT replica of this situation, with the man taking the place of the god.
I'm a religious person myself, but how anyone could follow a religion that insists people remain as infantile as possible in relation to their god is beyond me. These people have no interest in ever growing up and becoming adults, and their entire system of thought reflects that.
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What if it were actually true?
Carol, remember that scene in Poltergeist where JoBeth Williams asks Craig Nelson to remember when he had an open mind?
What if it were actually true? What if there was a study that you could respect that showed that "surrendering" did create better harmony and outcomes however you want to define that.
Do you think you could ever accept that? And do that?
If the answer is no, you never could, then of what use is your review of this British show?
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but what about the children....
Far be it from me to step on someone elses toes and tell them how to make their relationship work. I honestly believe that it makes some women very happy to live in the 1950s marriage household ideal. Good on them - not for me.
What worries me is what message these men and women are sending to their children. Is it fair to tell your daughters that they are incapable of making decisions and need a man to do it for them just because it's true for the mother? Is it right for mothers to pamper their sons to such an extent that at the age of 21 they still honestly don't know how to do their own laundry?
Just important to remember that marriage relationships often AREN'T just about two consenting adults doing whatever works for them... they're about the environment and messages these people are sending to their children as well. It makes me sad to see women basically sending the message to their daughters that they are worth less than men.