Society's values

**Awaken** · 08-18-2004 07:12 PM

I'm sickened by this - on the MSN site of all places:

-------------------------------------------------
By Randy B. Hecht

When talking about men, our moms are something like used-car salesmen. And with good reason: were they 100% honest about the flabby spare tire, the tendency to accelerate unexpectedly and brake unreliably, or the engine's habit of overheating at the slightest provocation, they might never get any grandchildren.

So mom left out the occasional salient but crazy-making truth about life with men. No problem, really: men themselves clue us in soon enough. Who else, after all, would have the audacity to look at us when we're eight months pregnant and confide that they're not sure they can handle being in the delivery room?

The truth is that men:

Can't multitask. Sure, you can do the laundry, bake a cake and make a few phone calls simultaneously. But giving a man instructions to do two or more things at the same time is the equivalent of wearing kryptonite lingerie on a date with Superman. The guy's just not going to be able to function.

Don't remember the way we do. This is half frustration and half parlor game. When he does something to piss you off, tell him, "This is just like what you did in the middle of dinner at your great-aunt Marie's 75th birthday party, and you promised me then that it would never happen again!" He'll have no idea what you're talking about-heck, he's doing well if he remembers that he has a great-aunt Marie — and the more details you dredge up, the more perplexed he'll become.

Have inverse priorities. In Manland, it is utterly unreasonable of you to make such a fuss over the water ring his beer bottle left on the mahogany table that's been in your family for five generations. A crisis, my friend, is what happens if you change the settings on the stereo's graphic equalizer.

Are a tad color-blind. One friend and I completely freaked out her husband with an extended conversation about the contrast in color between the couch, which was more of a burgundy, and the carpet, which was more of a cranberry. We knew he'd reached his breaking point when he cried out, "For pity's sake, they're both just red!"

Can't define the word irrational. This is a particularly good trick of theirs. The way the game works is that he whittles away at your patience with some little thing or other. It could be that he went out three times today and each time forgot that he promised to pick up the dry cleaning. It could be that his version of "helping you" to clean the house involves re-alphabetizing the CDs, which somehow got out of order. Eventually, you snap and let loose with a sarcastic or even unkind comment. That's his cue to adopt a patient if long-suffering tone in which to ask why you have suddenly grown so irrational.

It's a trap that never fails to snare us, and the only escape is to look him in the eye and say, "This is just like that time three years ago when..."

http://msn.match.com/msn/article.aspx?arti...BannerID=544659

What better way to atrophy any sense of compassion, as a very wise band would have said

**gameover** · 08-18-2004 07:22 PM

Don't remember the way we do[/b]

meaning we dont like to remember every random stupid fact, so we focus on the important things.

Are a tad color-blind[/b]

It is a fact that a large percentage of the male population is color blind. I am one of those. Its like making fun of a cripple. Whats wrong with this woman?

This woman has anger issues. Its very easy to simplify.

**Awaken** · 08-18-2004 07:47 PM

Pretty sad that this would make it into the diary of an angst-filled teenager with some bad "guy" experiences, let alone an apparently-reputable source such as MSN...I have completely lost faith in the appropriateness, credibility, and meaningfulness of the so-called "news". It's not news anymore, it's the same tragedies of humanity over and over again. The REAL news (stories of scientific/social progress) are pushed to the bottom of the pile, while the mind-numbing tabloid crap is smeared in our faces whether we want it or not. NEW TODAY! Someone was killed by [insert graphic emotional depiction of which limbs were severed and how bad the family is now feeling]......News stories may as well be put in fill-in-the-blanks format because it's already as cookie-cutter-concrete as it can possibly be...I haven't read, heard, or seen anything inspiring or thought-provoking from the news in I-don't-know-how-long

**Death-Wuad** · 08-18-2004 07:49 PM

Well I've decided to write my own article:

Why women are causing the apocolypse.

They can't simplify their sentences: Come on, you've all heard this before- "Steven, I told you to wash the dishes, Steven. The dishes were supposed to be cleaned with some sort of disinfectant so we can eat off them Steven." A man would have said- "Babe, wash the dishes."

They make a big deal out of little things: "Steven, Oh my god Steven! There's a crumb on the floor Steven! Vacuum the house Steven!" Everything has to be perfect, nothing escapes their ability to notice even the most minute flaws.

Hypocricy: Of course they call us insecure, even when we don't shave every hair on our body, wear make-up, wear perfume, get implants, and obsess over our appearance.

Can't understand necessity: Shoes, jewelry, clothes, and other crap that nobody needs or cares about.

We're color blind?: Other than the fact that men's eyes are actually less sensitive to color, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one. Just kidding, nobody cares about small differences in color anyway.

We can't multitask?: Multitasking is less efficient, and that's probably why you constantly burn my dinner anyway. Seriously though, would you be able to completely re-wire the house with a simple explanation? We were trained for certain things, and you were trained for certain things. You can't understand the things we do so well, why should we be able to understand the things you do so well?

**Awaken** · 08-18-2004 09:30 PM

**gameover** · 08-18-2004 09:32 PM

And now are we sinking jsut as low as his woman?

**Alric** · 08-18-2004 10:29 PM

Well I would hope the person who wrote that was just joking around. If not I feel kind of sorry for them because that must be one sad life.

Ev · 08-18-2004 10:39 PM

Originally posted by Awaken
I'm sickened by this - on the MSN site of all places:

-------------------------------------------------
By Randy B. Hecht

When talking about men, our moms are something like used-car salesmen. And with good reason: were they 100% honest about the flabby spare tire, the tendency to accelerate unexpectedly and brake unreliably, or the engine's habit of overheating at the slightest provocation, they might never get any grandchildren.

So mom left out the occasional salient but crazy-making truth about life with men. No problem, really: men themselves clue us in soon enough. Who else, after all, would have the audacity to look at us when we're eight months pregnant and confide that they're not sure they can handle being in the delivery room?

The truth is that men:

Can't multitask. Sure, you can do the laundry, bake a cake and make a few phone calls simultaneously. But giving a man instructions to do two or more things at the same time is the equivalent of wearing kryptonite lingerie on a date with Superman. The guy's just not going to be able to function.

Don't remember the way we do. This is half frustration and half parlor game. When he does something to piss you off, tell him, \"This is just like what you did in the middle of dinner at your great-aunt Marie's 75th birthday party, and you promised me then that it would never happen again!\" He'll have no idea what you're talking about-heck, he's doing well if he remembers that he has a great-aunt Marie — and the more details you dredge up, the more perplexed he'll become.

Have inverse priorities. In Manland, it is utterly unreasonable of you to make such a fuss over the water ring his beer bottle left on the mahogany table that's been in your family for five generations. A crisis, my friend, is what happens if you change the settings on the stereo's graphic equalizer.

Are a tad color-blind. One friend and I completely freaked out her husband with an extended conversation about the contrast in color between the couch, which was more of a burgundy, and the carpet, which was more of a cranberry. We knew he'd reached his breaking point when he cried out, \"For pity's sake, they're both just red!\"

Can't define the word irrational. This is a particularly good trick of theirs. The way the game works is that he whittles away at your patience with some little thing or other. It could be that he went out three times today and each time forgot that he promised to pick up the dry cleaning. It could be that his version of \"helping you\" to clean the house involves re-alphabetizing the CDs, which somehow got out of order. Eventually, you snap and let loose with a sarcastic or even unkind comment. That's his cue to adopt a patient if long-suffering tone in which to ask why you have suddenly grown so irrational.

It's a trap that never fails to snare us, and the only escape is to look him in the eye and say, \"This is just like that time three years ago when...\"

http://msn.match.com/msn/article.aspx?arti...BannerID=544659

What better way to atrophy any sense of compassion, as a very wise band would have said

Sounds like a bad written rant to me. Is there a purpose to this BS? No!

**Awaken** · 08-19-2004 02:49 AM

Originally posted by gameover
And now are we sinking jsut as low as his woman?

I took Death-Wuad's reply as a joke, I would never harbour that kind of prejudice...

**Death-Wuad** · 08-19-2004 03:00 AM

Well good, I was just joking around. BUT it is true that men's eyes are less photosensitive to pigments, and I did speak from the heart when I was saying that women can't re-wire a house, as men cannot get a stain out of our shirts through some tricky experiment. To argue that that one sex is better than the other is pointless, as we both have our general weaknesses and strengths. If the person who wrote that was serious, I will label her as a bitch.

**baconmastermind** · 08-19-2004 06:45 AM

That woman is a c*unt (even I have limits). No every person sporting a Y chromosome is the stupid beer drinking ass-bag she describes. "For pity's sake, they're both just red!" I don't understand why pointing out the stupidity of someone's conversation warrants the person having a "handicap" on that particular subject. It sounds like someone is a little self important.

**gameover** · 08-19-2004 10:10 AM

Where on MSN was this found? Is this some sort of article or random rant on soem site?

**Death-Wuad** · 08-19-2004 01:51 PM

http://msn.match.com/msn/article.aspx?arti...BannerID=544659

**Awaken** · 08-19-2004 04:59 PM

Official, nicely-laid-out, lots of eye candy, and it was smack in the middle of the news banner at the bottom of MSN Messenger....

**Khronos** · 08-19-2004 10:57 PM

Hmm... I've always looked at men and women as two completely different mind set species. It's like dogs and cats, do they understand each other? To a certain degree, but they have two different dialects and views on life. No matter how smart the cat is in reflexes, it will never have that dedication that a dog has.

Overall theory, any women that tries to define man is wrong. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

.<---------------PERIOD!

**Neil** · 08-20-2004 12:50 AM

I think the problem is that you have misenterpreted the intent of the article. I agree with you Awaken, but I think this article was intended to be more of a chatty critique of married life from a woman's perspective than a philosophical, objective, balanced view of men.

For example, I complain to my friends ALOT about the way my mother moans and complains at me, and to make the conversation interesting and funny, I will often describe her as an angry old battle-axe. But thats just a caricature. I'm describing her within the specific context of a chat with like-minded friends. It is often useful to only show specific sides of an experience. If I was to be completely balanced, I'd say my mother was actually a nice woman who worries too much. But that doesn't make for a good conversation.

So chill.

And good 'schism' reference.

**Awaken** · 08-20-2004 02:20 AM

Originally posted by Khronos
Hmm... I've always looked at men and women as two completely different mind set species. It's like dogs and cats, do they understand each other? To a certain degree, but they have two different dialects and views on life. No matter how smart the cat is in reflexes, it will never have that dedication that a dog has.

Overall theory, any women that tries to define man is wrong. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

.<---------------PERIOD!

Couldn't disagree more...There's no such thing as black and white in the human or animal world. Some men are more feminine than some women! It's a multidimensional spectrum, somewhat like a volume slider bar. It's not just "on" or "off", but rather there is a range. Physical dimensions and properties aside, there is no definitive source of information to describe how a man or woman or cat or dog acts or should act.