The Dangers Of Ageing For Women

In this post I'm not going to talk about things like putting on weight or various health problems a woman can acquire as she is getting older, but about something entirely different. Have you never noticed, dear reader, that older women are often bossy?

Part of it is probably due to the (gradual) loss of female hormones as we are approaching menopause, but the most important cause is, in my opinion, just the fact that as people get older they naturally become more certain of themselves. After all, in our culture, we are still socialised to attribute the position of respect to the elderly, and they are supposed to possess the wisdom which comes with considerable life experience.

The fact, that many women in their late 30s and 40s have nearly grown-up children who are still under their authority as father spends hours away from home earning the living, probably adds to it. It is a natural process, but herein lies the danger of turning into a person resembling Hyacinth from Keeping Up Appearances. Have you ever watched this TV series? If not, you probably should, as it's very funny, but also has some cosy scenes of domestic life in it. I usually watch the reruns of it while knitting.

If you did, do you still remember the story line? Hyacinth bosses everyone around, and her primary victim is her unlucky husband who is the object of sympathy of all her neighbours, family and acquaintances, including the vicar. Have you ever wondered how did she turn into such a monster? In one part, her husband reminds her that after the birth of their son (which happened quite late in their marriage) she lost all (sexual) interest in him, and that's probably when their problems started.

Now, it's partly Richard's fault, too, as he is a total wimp who blindly obeys every ridiculous command of his wife, though sometimes he shows some weak signs of rebellion. The problem with men is that as they age, they get less dominant (due to the reduced amount of testosterone their body produces), while women get more dominant as I pointed out above.

The worst thing about it that the changes in the power balance of marriage usually start with small things, and it's easy to overlook them at first. The husband comes home tired from work and simply has no energy to engage in domestic conflicts and power struggles with his wife, who thinks by herself that she is "not a little girl anymore" and that she "has the right to her own opinion" and probably better knows what the family needs are at the moment anyway, since she is busy with the children and household management day in day out.

It's a temptation very easy to fall into for any woman married for a longer period of time, and then, before she notices it, a new Hyacinth is born, and the marriage relationship is completely ruined. The attraction will usually die on both sides, as women tend to lose the respect for wimpy husbands (as one of such ladies put it, nobody can get attracted to a kitchen*itch), while men, on the other hand, are seldom attracted to a dominatrix.

Granted, such couples don't always divorce. Richard and Hyacinth didn't and some couples I know in the real life who are like this, didn't, either, but you could never call them happy. Ask yourself is it what you really want?

Sometimes it's wiser to keep your mouth shut as a woman even if you know for sure you are right. Sometimes it's better to be kind than right. Several years ago I read an article by Michael and Debi Pearl about Jezebel, which I don't have time to google for right now, when they discussed the same problem from spiritual point of view - women who manipulate their husbands and assert the authority in marriage by pretending to be more spiritual than their husbands.

I know not everyone agrees with Pearls on all sorts of things, but I thought this article was quite good and I still remember one phrase out of it. It goes along the lines that men by nature need to be honoured by their wives and treated as someone who accomplishes great deeds. My own life experience teaches me that it's true.

If you want a happy marriage, don't turn into Hyacinth. At any age.

More Vintage Ads

1930s cars:

The Death Of Aeneas

A nice composition by a contemporary Swedish artist:

Links For November

Here are some interesting links for November:

November is usually considered a gloomy, dark month, so it sounds like a good idea to actually celebrate it!
In case you missed the post on the topic on The Pleasant Times, here is the link:
The Celebration Of November

Mias Landliv also has ideas on what to do on a rainy November day:
Rainy Days And Mondays

November also since recently appears to be the "men's month", otherwise known as Movember, so Germany recently had
World Beard Championships

I also recommend this interesting post which argues against short hair on women using a pictorial guide:
Women, please don't cut your hair

Bruce Charlton has several posts on the evils of mass media:
detox programme for mass media addiction
mass media colonised small talk
the mass media is enemy headquarters


And one more article on the dangers of mass media:
Television Is an Evil

Ladies and gentlemen, that's all for today!

Women Fighting Men

Saw it on Vox Popoli and couldn't refrain from commenting:

Carrot-Raisin Cake

This is one of my favourite recipes. It's sweet, moist and healthy, because there are carrots in it! I shared it with my neighbour and her husband and also with those who came on a visit.

You will need:

1c raisins
2c flour
2c sugar (brown)
2tsp baking powder
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp soda bicarbonate (baking soda)
1tsp salt
3/4c vegetable oil
4 eggs
3c grated carrots.

Toss raisins with 2 tbsp flour. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, soda, salt and the rest of the flour. Add oil and eggs, beat well and then add carrots and raisins.

Transfer to a greased baking dish, bake at ab. 165*C (325*F) for 55 till 60 min., remove from oven and cool. For frosting you will need:

1pkg cream cheese (8oz)
1/2c soft butter
1tsp orange juice
1tsp vanilla extract
powder sugar to taste (I usually use ab. 2 cups, though the original recipe calls for 3 3/4c)

Beat cream cheese and butter, then add juice and vanilla, beat in powder sugar until the desired consistency is reached. Spread over the cake and store it in the fridge. I usually cover it with aluminium foil which helps keep it fresh.

Vacation Pictures Part 2

                                                                   Limburg

                                                        The Joys Of Country Life

                                                        The View From Our Balcony

                                                                Cave Houses

                     An Old Ford (probably has been rusting in this field since the times of WWII)

                                                          Just A Nice View

                                                            Valkenburg At Night

                                                              Seven Hills Route

                                                                A Castle

(The last one was supposed to be a picture of our hotel but I decided not to post it due to privacy concerns.)

Retro Halloween

Even though we normally don't celebrate it...




If you watch it on YouTube, you can read the lyrics in the comments section. I especially like the maid:) Wish I had one like that:)

The Prejudice Against Housewives

So why is it that housewives face such a prejudice in our society? I was planning to write a long sophisticated post on this topic, but then decided to keep it short and not to go into too much detail. In a nutshell, the prejudice housewives face is the result of the relentless feminist propaganda which started somewhere in the 1950s and 1960s and has been going on ever since.

Consider these words by Betty Friedan: "Friedan describes housewives as failing 'to grow up', as 'mindless and thing-hungry' and 'not people'. Friedan describes housework as 'peculiarly suited to the capacities of feeble-minded girls'...Because a 'woman's work - housework -  cannot give her status', she must 'acquire her status vicariously through her husband's work,' and so 'becomes a parasite." (quoted from "Domestic Tranquility" by F. Carolyn Graglia, Spence Publishing Companny 1998, p.116).

Unfortunately, this attitude has pretty much become governmental policy in all Western countries. It is especially pushed by the so-called new Progressive Left, and the irony of the situation is that the traditional  (old) European Left was against the employment of (married) women:

As early as 1866, delegates to the First Socialist International “approved a resolution calling for bans on the employment of women. The measure’s sponsors reasoned that working women pressed down overall wage levels and displaced men; in their view, working women were the equivalent of strikebreakers”. Sweden’s Social Democratic Party adopted this view, and for many years it remained normative for Swedish “progressives.” (quoted from here).

Feminists will attack every dissenter, and will disregard scientific research when it disagrees with their views. Consider this article by Gavin Mc Innes. While being on Huffington Post Live, he had the audacity to say that men and women were different and wanted different things in life, and it didn't go well with feminists:

I live in New York, an elephant’s graveyard for ovaries. From where I sit I see women who put career over family and are now in their 40s, drenched in regret. I cited a study that said women are less happy since feminism took root. The professor called it a “fantasy study.” This study was all over the news a couple of years ago. How could none of them have heard of it? 

For the record, I know there are some women out there who are not interested in traditional feminine things, or to quote Mr Mc Innes again:

I would guess seven percent [of women] like not having kids. They want to be CEOs. They like staying all night at the office, working on a proposal, and all the power to them. But by enforcing that as the norm, you’re pulling these women away from what they naturally want to do, and you’re making them miserable.

That's exactly what is the problem with the modern feminism. They take an exception and try to make it a rule for everyone which not only doesn't work properly, but makes people miserable and wrecks the society in the process. However, I'm fairly optimistic about the whole thing. The truth will eventually come out, as it's impossible to build anything based on lies about human nature. It has ways of reasserting itself and the abundance of homemaking blogs and articles like the one above only proves my point.