Boys and their toys

Fantastic post at Playing With a Full Deck, via World O' Crap. The topic? The stereotype that men just want more and more gadgets and women are obstacles to that desire.

Will anyone ever put a stop to this constant drumbeat from the media that all women are genetically predisposed to tame the male beast? It's bad enough we get bombarded with it nightly in the form of the whinily unlovable Raymond Romano, the terminally horny King of Queens, and their shrewish spouses. Now it's presented as gospel from those who should really know better - (i.e., a certain Boston Globe reporter who might have seen fit to do a bit more critical analysis of this new vernacular instead of blindly advancing insulting gender stereotypes bandied about the home electronics industry). The message is clear and consistent: men are children. They are not responsible human beings. They must be mothered into submission.

Women are the nesters, the keepers of home and hearth who know just what it takes to make a home for their family and dole out sexual favors in direct proportion to how well their husbands toe the domestic line. And, as all good mothers must, we control the toys. The problem with this concept is, of course, that it is invariably turned against us. Not only does it completely absolve every male on the planet of all accountability for his actions, it places the responsibility for his behavior squarely upon the shoulders of the woman in his life. As if we didn't have enough to do already.

I love it! My boyfriend is firmly in the gadget-collecting category, but I can't say that I'm willing to mommy him about it. If he makes the bills and wants to spend the rest of his money on guitars and stereo equipment, I don't care. Why should I?

The other side of that is he's a freaking grown-up. He would rightly be above crying like a baby because he has to make adult financial decisions.