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Dear Ann Landers,
He feels cooking and cleaning is "woman's work." He still lives at home. He pressures you for sex. He tells you he "has never felt this way" about anyone else. He drinks before noon or after work on a regular basis. He spends money on himself but has trouble paying rent and utilities. He thinks birth control is your responsibility. He can't seem to hold a job. He frequently needs to borrow money from you. He shows disrespect for his family members or yours. He has never asked for your opinion or advice on anything. You have never heard him say, "I'm sorry." -Mom in Minnesota Dear Mom: Your observations are excellent. My female readers really rose to the occasion. Here's another superb response:
Dear Arm Landers,
I read those 12 guidelines to help sons choose a mate, and I think some of them are clearly sexist. No. 3, for example, says to leave her alone if "she has sex with you on the first date." Well, if she had sex, so did he. A male who is so judg-mental is no candidate for marriage. The same goes for the one that says to leave her alone if "she can get her pantyhose off in less than five seconds. It means she has had lots of practice." If the man has had enough experience to set a time limit, he, too, has had too much practice. I wonder how long it took for him to get his socks off, or was he in such a hurry he just left them on? And No. 8 is absurd. Leave her alone if "you suggest a cocktail be-fore noon and she accepts." What was he doing suggesting a cocktail at that hour in the first place? Does he have a booze problem? I have no beef with the man's warning signals, but why didn't you point out that some of these red flags also reflected poorly on men? It is considered perfectly OK for men to have one-night stands, get skunk drunk and want sex on the first date, but women who do this are called tramps. 12 I ANN LANDERS It's time men were held to the same standard. And it's also time that Dad in Anaheim gave his sons some advice on how they should treat women. -Faithful Reader in Chicago Dear Chicago: Thanks for nailing those male chauvinist attitudes. In my opinion, the women's responses made a monkey out of "Anaheim." Sometimes my readers send me letters that are real knee-slappers.