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[house_cat]

I recently stumbled upon these two lovely books and thought I'd share:

[birkin baby]

I love books like those. My favorite ones  are from Peg Bracken. 

[sabatini]

Hi housecat! I'd love to read them. I know that today we look at things differently, & I'm sure there's quite a bit of cringe worthy stuff, but I'll bet you could also learn a thing or two.

Along the same line, when I was a young mom I came across a book at the library; 'Fascinating Womanhood', I think it was called, and the term "domestic goddess" was used. The book explained the difference between the sexes, and how to get the most out of your marriage; basically, how to have your guy treat you like the queen you are. That it was easy.

I swear to God, it worked!!! And it worked w/ every single one of my GFs who gave it a try.

Sigh. We just couldn't keep it up for too long.

[house_cat]

@sabatini

I'm a vintage gal myself - while I do believe in equal rights for women (and everyone else), I think there are inherent differences between men and women and we should just embrace them.

Shortly after moving to CA, probably about 15 years ago, I came across a book in the B&N clearance pile - I think it was called The Surrendered Wife.  At first I thought it was a joke, but I read it and it was life-changing. The idea of it was that many of us women tend to be control freaks, not allowing our husbands the freedom to do things their own way and make their own mistakes. The main suggestion was that we allow them to be equal partners, trust them with household decisions and allow them to follow-through. There's a lot more to say on the subject, but it was an epiphany for me and changed the dynamics of my marriage for the better. 

[sabatini]

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@house_cat wrote:

@sabatini

I'm a vintage gal myself - while I do believe in equal rights for women (and everyone else), I think there are inherent differences between men and women and we should just embrace them.

Shortly after moving to CA, probably about 15 years ago, I came across a book in the B&N clearance pile - I think it was called The Surrendered Wife.  At first I thought it was a joke, but I read it and it was life-changing. The idea of it was that many of us women tend to be control freaks, not allowing our husbands the freedom to do things their own way and make their own mistakes. The main suggestion was that we allow them to be equal partners, trust them with household decisions and allow them to follow-through. There's a lot more to say on the subject, but it was an epiphany for me and changed the dynamics of my marriage for the better. 

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That's wonderful! I know a certain someone who might be in for a copy...

I too thought that the book I'd previously mentioned was a joke....but as I said, it worked. Crazy!

As I recall, she'd used the animal kingdom as an example of the difference between the sexes; how males are showy, and put on a display of their manliness/virility, etc., in order to attract females. Therefore, if as a woman, you react to the inherent 'maleness' of your guy, he'll respond in a positive way. 

She said there's no pay off for him if you say 'thanks so much for helping w/ the dishes, honey'....but if when he's mowing the lawn, in passing you say 'you looked so powerful pushing that mower!', or when he opens a jar 'your hands are so strong', ding, ding!

[SilleeMee]

I must be from another planet. Where I come from the women in my family mowed the lawns and took out the garbage...amongst many other things. The men in my life have always been my equals and I have been known to open doors for them just as they would for me. Wouldn't have it any other way! Long live Gloria S.

[sabatini]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

I must be from another planet. Where I come from the women in my family mowed the lawns and took out the garbage...amongst many other things. The men in my life have always been my equals and I have been known to open doors for them just as they would for me. Wouldn't have it any other way! Long live Gloria S.

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I hear you!! But we're just talking about days gone by...

[house_cat]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

I must be from another planet. Where I come from the women in my family mowed the lawns and took out the garbage...amongst many other things. The men in my life have always been my equals and I have been known to open doors for them just as they would for me. Wouldn't have it any other way! Long live Gloria S.

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Either you misread our posts, or we were unclear.  I've mown lawns, fixed cars, and did all the upgrading of our first home, singlehandedly.  My husband has changed diapers, cooked dinners and held the hands of my dad and my mom as they lay dying.  We are blessed to live in an era when gender roles are interchangeable.  However, men and women are biologically different and learning to make those differences work in our favor is a beautiful thing.

[SilleeMee]

@house_cat

A male friend of mine has a new gf and they've been going strong for several months. The other day he seemed upset so I asked him what was wrong. He said he was not happy with the way things were going for him and his new gf and that they needed a seroius talk.  After that I asked him what all the fuss was about and he replied: "After all this time we been dating she still hasn't cooked for me nor has she cleaned my house and I told her she was suppose to do those things for her man". I was besides myself. There are still those who truly believe in hard lines drawn between genders. 

[violann]

Peg Bracken's books are classics, but NOT because you need to "please your man".

The clever Ms. Bracken taught us lackluster household goddesses how to convince our men that we were slaving away to take care of them while we were actually spending 15 minutes in the kitchen and the rest of the day curled up with a good book.

She hated domestic chores and figured that the truth was that most of us did as well.

Her stuff is just as good today as it was 50 years ago. Give it a look!