Men & Marriage

Cassandra over at Villainous Company offers some thoughts on men & marriage. (H/t Glenn.)

Overall, she makes some great points, but I still notice how no MEN are actually writing about this. So, to wit:

I am in my mid-40s, married for 16 years with three kids, two dogs and a house in the 'burbs. I waited until I was 28 to get engaged and it happened rather quickly. (When you know, you know.) Our marriage is not perfect, but I would not trade it for anything.

That said, I would never get married again.

This is not to say I regret my decision (I don't), but that absent this particular woman and the kids, I do not find the prospect of marriage to have any upside to me and I do see plenty of downside. I am not at all concerned about lacking for sex and if I want companionship, I'll get a dog. Thankfully, I can afford the maid service to keep the house in order and anything more complicated than a sandwich, I can order in or dine out. Finally, I am willing to admit that I take great pleasure in material things.

Okay, so why. Simply because (and I am generalizing here) men want the most from the least. I am lazy; I don't want to work hard. Women are hard work. ALL women. George Bernard Shaw said, "Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else." How true...

Actually, to be clear, I work hard all day. My job is stressful (though I enjoy it) and involves near constant conflict or conflict resolution. I want my home life to be tranquil. It won't be. Why? Because I would also admit that I am hard work...if you are interested in changing me into some domestic lapdog or having me conform to the "Unrealistic Marriage Template" Cassandra talks about.

I certainly agree that there are tons of really wonderful women out there. So again, this is not to say I do not enjoy the company of women, but I would want the option of walking away at the end of the night.

More to follow...

Tdub???

UPDATE: Sorry, link fixed.

UPDATE II: See this post by William Voegeli...