Community Chat

[shoesnbags]

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@151949 wrote:

Wow 46 answers in just a few min. but yet none of them explain why this saying is so meaningful as to reach the level of being offended by it. 

I use this saying to end spats with my DH all the time - when I just don't want to spar with him over something I say  Remember, happy wife - happy life or sometimes "You still haven't learned - happy wife , happy life." He'll usually say - I GOTTA come up with a something about happy husbands ! 

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Wow, if I said something like that to my husband, it would start an argument, not end it.  And the same if he said something like that to me!  Sounds very bossy, like "you'd better give me my way or else."

[GenXmuse]

If I got a tshirt that said Happy Wife, Happy Life, I'd send it to Teresa from RHONJ. 

[StraytoStay]

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@Daisy wrote:

I can't imagine anyone wearing any of those shirts out in public.

If I received one as a gift, I'd probably wear it as a pj top...and that's only if I couldn't return it.

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If I got the Happy Wife Happy Life tank as a gift, I'd probably think it was an insult! Lol

[jeanlake]

Good answer, Stevie. Exactly what I was thinking. Makes the little woman sound manipulative and spoiled. Not the way most of us want our partners to view us. 

[QueenDanceALot]

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@SaRina wrote:

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@makena wrote:

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@151949 wrote:

On threads discussing the TSV some people are saying they find the saying "happy wife , happy life" offensive. OK - I don't get what is offensive about that. 

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Some people will find any reason to be offended. 

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Everyone is offended by something at some time.... including you. What I may find offensive, you may not.... and vice versa. Judging other people for what they find offensive is being morally superior as another poster alluded to.

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It's a weird thing these days that some people want to pound others for being offended by something.  

You are right, everyone is offended by something. 

[sidsmom]

[suzyQ3]

I have read only a third in at this point, so forgive me if I repeat what someone else has already said.

The problem for me with sayings like "Happy Wife, Happy Life," is indeed that it is condescending, as one poster said. I cannot even imagine my husband saying any of them. That's just not in his mindset.

Remember back when men used to pretend that it really was the wife who was the boss behind the curtain.Malarky. It was as patronizing as when men used to say that "housewives" had a harder job than they did. Compliment? No, siree.

That man wouldn't wouldn't have been caught dead in that role, and not because it was more difficult than his job. In fact, it was so low on the ladder that men had to come up with sappy stuff to convince women they, too, were just as important.

All were little pats on the head to ensure the status quo never changed. But oops, slowly it has.

If you want to tell me that I'm reading too much into a silly saying, that's fine. I disagree. Sayings are not created out of thin air. They have subcontext. And what I have described is what I consider the subtext of the saying or phrases I've mentioned.

[lOVETOSHOP]

Well, I, for one, DO get offended every day that the sun comes up...it hurts my eyes!

[NYC Susan]

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@sim2222 wrote:

I hear that expression all the time. I am not offended. I think its a cute saying.

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I agree.  It's not new - I've been hearing that for a very long time and have never had a problem with it.

It just means that smart men make their wives happy.  (Not that it shouldn't also be the other way around.)  I don't think it describes an offensive situation.  Sounds like a win-win to me!

[NYC Susan]

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@Ms tyrion2 wrote:

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@Annabellethecat66 wrote:

I don't care one way or another.  I think it's just a sign of the times (I'm 70) that it is necessary to wear a few words plastered on a T-Shirt how you feel or think......

I think it's much different than going way back to when my now 40 year old daughters wanted to wear shirts that said "Jordache".  I said, "I'm not paying money to advertise some person's clothing.  You want the shirt.  Get a job and buy it with your own money".

They did get jobs for the summer but when they were paying for it, they decided they didn't need the shirt after all.

My point is it doesn't make sense to me but if someone feels the need to plaster on their chest their feelings, so for it.  I'd rather spend my money some other ways.....

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Words and sayings on t shirts have been around for over 50 years. It's not a "sign of the times".

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I was just about to post the same thing.  Actually, words on t-shirts used to be much more prevalent than they are today.