My parents have always had hundreds of books to choose from on various shelves in every place they've lived for as long as I can remember. Growing up I used to peruse and read everything I could get my hands on (still do, when visiting). A recent opinion piece in Forbes reminds me of one of their eclectic titles, James Thurber's collection The Thurber Carnival (1945), especially a cartoon section humorously depicting "The War Between Men and Women." Thurber's cartoons externalize the tensions and relationships, the conflict of wants, inherent in adult gender differences. It's silly, but in many ways, right on. Thurber elsewhere summarized things nicely: "There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else." The "war" is a standard issue topic for comedians, the edgier the better (Chris Rock still cracks me up when he deals with social relationships of all kinds).
The original publication (in the August 22, 2006 issue of Forbes) of Michael Noer's "Don't Marry Career Women" created quite a controversy; Noer argues simply that career women are too dangerous for sensible men to marry. The Opinion section where it first appeared has since been reshaped and now includes "Counterpoint: Don't Marry a Lazy Man," by Elizabeth Corcoran. As with Thurber's cartoons, I find the whole thing fascinating -- especially the strong response at large.As of 2006, it seems we are experimenting with all sorts of possibilities, relationships of all kinds. In the past, rich people, aristocrats, kings and queens and sultans, artists, Bohemians and isolated rural folks have pretty much done whatever they wanted, sometimes carefully and sometimes recklessly. Nowadays, we openly debate gay marriage, civil union, extended daisy chain families, nuclear families, and everything in between. It's clearly a hot button socio-political-religious issue, this relationship/family business, but at least we're talking about it.
Modern technology expands our realms of possibility both good and bad, as usual. Easy transportation and communications and R & D are transforming the world in ways we can't quite fathom. It's a major mystery with plenty of room for conflict and discussion. Let the games of war continue. . . . .
Today's Rune: Wholeness.
Ciao!
1 comment:
I'll have to read the article. I'm curious to know whether he, the Forbes writer, considered the possibility that a married couple discussed child rearing and who would quit their career job to watch the kids.
He should have changed it to: Never Marry A Career Person Without Discussing How The Children Will Be Raised. Ultimately, sacrifices have to be made in a marriage, especially with kids.
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