Men

Hubby and I have what I call "couple" friends. Married friends of ours that we don't really hang out with separately, only as couples. Two of these couples share an issue. The men are assholes.
One couple lives in far southeastern Oklahoma. Ever seen Deliverance? Yep, it's like that. The guy is closer to my age than hubby's (we're 11 years apart) and is the son of FIL's best friend who owns the land they hunt on every year. He also has a sister who is closer in age to my husband. As a for instance, just so you'll get a small grasp of their mindset, the first year I went down to deer camp (I wasn't allowed to go before we were married b/c we would have had to sleep in separate campers) we were all sitting around the campfire chatting. The daughter/sister is telling us about the Halloween party her 15 year old daughter had. Black powder season always starts around Halloween here. She says "This boy walked into the party and he was :whispering: BLACK!" Because my mouth lacks a filter the first thing out of my mouth was "Why are you whispering? Does he not know he's black?" That earned an elbow from the my other half. Hunting leases are expensive and we're lucky not to have to pay for this land.
So every year we go down I feel like I've stepped into the 1950's. Where I'm supposed to keep the kid, clean the house, and wait hand and foot on my husband. Thankfully my husband knows better and picks up his own damn laundry as well as sharing the dinner responsibilities. So for the first time a few weeks ago this couple comes up to "the city." Which is funny b/c my town isn't even close to being a city, but I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.
So up they come, with their 7 month old baby, and her pregnant again. This is when I notice what an ass he is. He's constantly riding her about her weight. Yeah she's heavy, but she was heavy before you married her so it isn't as if it should shock you. When his glass is empty he raises it at her and shakes it so the ice rattles. Which, my husband knows, would earn him a lap full of ice. If you want me to get you something to drink, ASK ME, politely, don't assume I'm at your beck and call. We all know what assuming does.
So after a day of listening to the fat jokes, listening to him bitch b/c he has to "babysit" while she takes a shower (when you father the child it isn't babysitting, it's parenting!) then listening to him bitch b/c it takes her too long to get ready (it would help if you would take the baby out of her arms while she does her hair) and listening, worst of all, to him tell her what "better women" my SIL and I are b/c our houses are clean. (Hello, we cleaned for company. You should see my living room any other day. Looks like Toys R US threw up.) I realize I'm less pissed at him for being an ass than I am at her FOR TAKING IT!
T he other couple we know that do this also consists of an ass and a heavy gal. Why do fat women put up with this shit? Is it a self esteem issue? Is it deeper than that? Why would you allow someone to treat you that way? I know not all heavy women put up with it but the trend seems to be alot more rampant with them then with thin to average women. It pisses me off that there are men out there that treat women this way but, as a women, it frustrates me more to see women putting up with it. I want to tell them that they don't have to. That they're beautiful and successful women who don't need that crap.
The couple From SE OK is a little different b/c of the general mindset there. But the other couple lives right here in central OK where women have been equals for at least a decade. There both college graduates who teach high school and just built an amazing new home I would kill for. Unfortunately for us they're moving. To SE Oklahoma. Wonder if that's a coincidence?
I really enjoy these women. I know they deserve better. Their children deserve a better example. What kind of life are their girls going to have if this is how they think men should treat women? And the boys? If I ever hear my son speak to a woman that way he will understand that he is never to big for me to lay into him. I'm so thankful that my husband sets such a good example. He reminds me that even though there is a world full of assholes out there, that true gentlemen still exist.
Of course none of them are under 30 or live in SE OK. Which reminds me, what is it with men in their twenties that makes me want to strangle them?