Monday, November 14, 2011

Husbands as Punchlines

This weekend David and I attended the wedding of a longtime friend.  It was lovely --The bride was beautiful, the groom was beaming, the ceremony was sweet and simple.  As I watched them say their vows, I could picture them sitting on the back porch at ninety, holding hands and watching a sunset together.  I guess you could say they are meant for each other.

So, it was quite a contrast when, after dinner, a fellow wedding guest began chatting with me about marriage and husbands and kids.  "I always say I have four kids..." she began as I cringed in advance for the punchline: "including my husband."

Ba-dum-bum-ching!

Except it wasn't funny.  It's NEVER funny, and yet women go around repeating this joke as if it were the most hilarious thing that has ever come out of their mouths.  Ha ha ha.  You think your husband is a child.  What a scream!  Pardon me if I forget to laugh.

How are jokes like this okay?  How is it socially acceptable to sit around and talk about our husbands like they are a bunch of buffoons who do nothing but sit in the yard and pick fleas off each other?  I mean, aren't these the same guys who provide for the family, help change diapers, sit through chick flicks, and remember our birthdays?  You know, the guys who slay dragons and love us and take care of us?

Ugh.  The Tyrannical Wife strikes again.

Someone needs to tell that chick to retire.

3 comments:

Courtney @ Ordinary Happily Ever After said...

The day she retires is the day I quit stop reading ;)

I totally agree. Poor guys.

Twinkies said...

I think because there are guys out there who are nothing like our husbands. Guys who only think about themselfs and not anyone else. So the wife is force to do everything for them. My father-n-law is one of those guys.So if my mother-n-law had the confidence to tell that joke I would competly agree with her.

Bonnie said...

I see your point, Mika (I agree, we have great husbands), but I don't think it is helpful to anyone's relationship to insult their spouse and make them the butt of a joke, regardless of their behavior. And if the joke were reversed -- that is, a husband saying his wife is a helpless child -- no one would laugh. They would be horrified. Why the double standard when it comes to men?

Thanks for commenting!