Member-only story
Bitch Nags Unite!
Is your wife a miserable harpy? Is she just never satisfied with you or her life? Does her glum attitude infect the whole family? Does she speak only in frets and twitch a little all the time? Does she laugh maniacally when you ask her to touch your dong? Does she seem totally unable to have fun or to relax, when you distinctly remember her once being a fun-loving, sexy, joyful human?
Then your family might have a case of Patriarchy Pox, a pervasive and pernicious illness that effects millions every year, throughout history, always, goddammit.
I’m listening to Glennon Doyle’s podcast and she and her sister are talking about Overwhelm. They describe having a ticker of things to do, to worry about, to fix, to foresee, always running through their heads, and carrying the burden of their family members and colleagues’ comfort, safety, health, and success around on their backs…it’s heavy, but no one seems to see it, and in fact, the family seems to get annoyed that they’re hunching under the weight of it. Helpful husbands might ask what they can do, what they can take off the to-do list, but they’re acting as assistants, not partners. They’re not making the lists, seeing what needs to be done. They’re not doing the uncomfortable, monotonous work of caring for and anticipating the needs of the family, the emotional labor. They’re just there to help. If you’re lucky.
