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Some do, Some don't
North Miami Beach, FL May 17, 2002
A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published
now and then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
SOME DO, SOME DON'T
We tend to generalize. In my attempt to reduce things to simpler
terms I tend to use generalizations. They are easy to find and resort to.
So, "some do and some don't." By this I mean we categorize, label and sort
people, their actions and their words and their associations. Let me
explain.
A short time ago we divided the world up into "haves and have
nots". This was the Marxian proclamation that the Proletariat would rise
and prevail in the inevitable struggle for control over the means of
production. This was a neat simplification that was easily understood and
easily taught to masses yearning to become bosses. Some masses were and are
willing to accept less and some don't. We see the cycle of ideas recycled
as time goes by. Some prevail for a time and then disappear like the Berlin
Wall and the Taliban.
We still divide the word between macho men and willing women.
Professional women have, with the help of a defining Maureen Dowd, been
skewered as likely not to attract men for there are not that many men who
will consort with them comfortably. Well, some do and some don't - I am
talking about the professional women right now. Some professional women
"want it all." I am not sure what that means - but in the simplification
and reductionism trade women want to be men in the enjoyment of sex and at
the same time be like men in needing and having "wives". I have often heard
that evaluation of household jobs. It would be great, says the woman, "If I
could have a wife." This, of course, means a nurturer like the nanny who
takes the load off the wife's back and cares for the children. This also
means the cook, the cleaner, the upstairs' maid - and you know the rest. No
one is replacing the man. But, some do and some don't.
The recycling industry that includes marriage has made the "We
have been happily married for fifty-five years now" claim, a dusty relic.
Some couples do, others don't. Some kids turn out to be pleasers, others don
't. That is the way of life and I guess some agree and some don't.
Carol's Evaluation: Some pieces need to be written and some don't.
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