But the evidence for Lopez’s thesis—that women are independenting ourselves out of male love and devotion, because men are emotionally shallow creatures who can’t love freely but have to be bribed into it—is a tad thin. A stiff breeze blows it all away. Like the dreaded marriage-destroying properties of the Xbox.

quote Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Mark Loring reminds me of a letter in Sax’s book from a woman named Sarah. She says her husband is stuck on Xbox, and while she loves him and so will tolerate a certain amount of his lack of motivation to grow up, she is “constantly haunted” by something he said: “He said that I might need to lower my expectations in life because he didn’t know whether he could provide them for me. What I find funny now is that I’m the real provider. I don’t feel like I’m part of a team. It’s wearing on me.” I hope that Sarah and her husband wound up better off than the Lorings.

Yes, your husband plays the Xbox all the time because you have the nerve to make your own money. That’s the ticket. Back in the days before middle class women had independent careers, men were careful to spend most of their free time lavishing love and attention on their wives, so much that you began to get sick of it. And of course, it’s impossible for the Xbox to be a social occasion that couples could enjoy together—women don’t have fun! Next you’ll be telling me they can do math.

Now excuse me, but I’m going to drag my childish ass over to play the Xbox. Wonder if Lopez knows that you don’t actually need a penis to work the controller.

Miss Razz via pandagon.blogsome.com »