June 03, 2004

• I remember hearing Martin Mull's comments about the unfairness of aging on Politically Incorrect many years ago. He said (not really a quote): "It's not fair. Men get older, they start to look like Sean Connery. Women get older, they start to look like... Sean Connery."
• There's a Buryat proverb to the effect that "A man has long reins", the sense being that a woman is working against time, but there's room for a man to make a few mistakes. Speaking of misogynistic oral culture, one Russian joke I recall: Q: Why do Russian men love fellatio so much? A: It's five minutes of silence.
• well I just can't think of a thing to say on this. except its too bad no one warned my husband...my feet are HUGE!!!
• So... why shouldn't you marry a woman with big feet?
• didja ever get those cold feet on ya in bed? Yow!
• You know what they say about women with big feet...Hubba, hubba. No, wait. That's wrong.
• Seriously, anyone know? Cause I kind of like big feet... especially on tall gangly girls. Have you seen the size of Liv Tyler's feet? *Garrgle*
• I don't know, But I been told, A big-legged woman Aint got no soul.
• *flashes secret 'devil' sign, headbangs*
• explanation! from a column by the book's author in the times of london: In general, women who look vulnerable seem to have more sex appeal to men, as vulnerability confirms the established hierarchy. Metaphorically, then, women's small feet indicate "the right measure" in marital relationships. The "right measure" presented in proverbs equates with a relationship on an unequal footing: "Never marry a woman with bigger feet than your own", as the Sena of Malawi and Mozambique say. Their explanation is that a man must have a wife over whom he can exercise authority. Last year I quoted this African proverb, which inspired the title of my book, in a discussion with the proverb expert Liu Xiaolu at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. He smiled in surprise and immediately quoted a similar Chinese proverb: "The woman with the long feet ends up alone in a room." Ending up alone in a room is considered to be the tragic fate of a talented woman, as no man will want to marry her.
• I would never date a woman whose penis was bigger than mine.
• love is hung.
• guess that's why the chinese used to love bound feet? no, wait a minute, that was something kinky. as in, they literally loved bound feet.
• Believe this thread would be incomplete without this.
• well da-dee-do-dah, wan-ga-der and nyah-da-dum, bees! yeahhhhhhh!
• Thx for the background SideDish. I guess that explains why I found her dominatrix scene in One Night at McCools was... engrossing.
• Fats! Go Beeswacky. Yeah, yeah! Apart from the thing about long feet (stay clear of 'em, lads, I warning ye) I was hoping that this thread might be a place for some women to share some anti-male sayings that the article implies exist in huge, undocumented quantities. Or is that, like, secret women's business? By the way, what's the opposite of misogynistic? Misanthropic seems just a tad too general.
• Anthropos means human bean, but aner/andr- means man as in male, so you could call it misandristic or maybe misandropic or there's probably already a word. (The opposite of polygyny is polyandry, and polygamy is the general term.) Another Russian saying: -The husband is the head of the family. -But the wife is the neck, and the head can only face where the neck turns it.
• Have a gander here. Hardly Merriam-Webster or Encyclopedia Britannica, but I suppose it serves the purpose.
• gander No pun intended.
• Feets, don't fail me now! Oh dear God, people, somebody had to.
• Wot a nice anserine machine, Alnedra.
• "Men are like Kleenex - soft, strong, and disposable." Sayings like that, you mean?
• some commentators came to regard the whole mob of them as ratbags ratbags Well, that's a new one for me. *walks away muttering, "Fat-footed ratbag."
• I used to tutor some folks in English who were from Sierra Leone, where one of the main languages, dialects, creoles, or something, is called Krio. I ran across some fascinating Krio proverbs, which are even more fun if you read them out loud in an affected voice (as there's plenty of English in there): Ah dohn sehl 99 grani; nohto mi grani in prais ah noh go sabi. "I've sold 99 old women; I can't fail to know the price of my grandmother." Wan man noh de ful bohks. "One man can't fill the box." A woman needs several lovers to fulfill her material wants. Yu wan (dohn) it di fohl with in eg? "You want to eat the chicken along with its egg?" A reference to having a relationship with both a woman and her daughter. And finally, for i feel unusual: Pohsin noh go tek ton skehd behleh wuman, bikohs I dohn ohrehdi gi am in mak. "You can't frighten a pregnant woman with a penis, because it's already left its mark on her." (Interpret this however you will...) Thanks, John Hardy.
• I was hoping that this thread might be a place for some women to share some anti-male sayings that the article implies exist in huge, undocumented quantities. You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy. -Erica Jong They shared the chores of living as some couples do - she did most of the work and he appreciated it. -Paula Gosling When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. -Elayne Bossler Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. -Maryon Pearson The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing - and then marry him. -Cher In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman. -Margaret Thatcher A woman who strives to be like a man lacks ambition. -Anonymous
• misandropic *laughs, appropriates*
• Outrigger: Love it! Now I be tawkin
• a few more: If you're not their mother, you're their wife. If you're not their wife, you're their secertary. But it's all the same job There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men think, I know what I'm doing. Just show me somebody naked." (Jerry Seinfield) See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time. (Robin Williams) If it has tires or testicles you're gonna have problems with it. (absolute GramMa favorite!) The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness, can be trained to do most things. Being a woman is a terribly difficult task since it consists principally in dealing with men. Conrad Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy fat women. If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck? ~Linda Ellerbee A man's home may be his castle on the outside; inside, it is more often his nursery. Clare Booth Luce
• Ummm, can't forget these: You [men] are not our protectors.... If you were, who would there be to protect us from? Mary Edwards Walker There are much easier things in life than finding a good man. Nailing Jell-O to a tree, for instance. If they can put one man on the moon why can't they put them all there? Men can read maps better than women. 'Cause only the male mind could conceive of one inch equaling a hundred miles. ~Roseanne Barr A man is two people, himself and his cock. A man always takes his friend to the party. Of the two, the friend is the nicer, being more able to show his feelings. ~Beryl Bainbridge Men are beasts and even beasts don't behave as they do. ~Brigitte Bardot The obvious and fair solution to the housework problem is to let men do the housework for, say, the next six thousand years, to even things up. The trouble is that men, over the years, have developed an inflated notion of the importance of everything they do, so that before long they would turn housework into just as much of a charade as business is now. They would hire secretaries and buy computers and fly off to housework conferences in Bermuda, but they'd never clean anything. ~Dave Barry The more I see of men, the more I like dogs. ~Madame de Sta
• If you're at all religious: God created Adam before Eve because you always make a rough draft before you create your masterpiece. The first thing God said after making man was,"I can do better." Woman was God's second mistake. Sayings a Monkey can relate to: Men are monkeys with car keys. Men are monkeys with striped pajamas. Men are monkeys with a cigar fetish. And a few favs just slightly skewed off topic: Marriage is an adventure, like going to war. Coleridge If variety is the spice of life, marriage is the big can of leftover Spam. Chekhov The vote means nothing to women. We should be armed. -Edna O'Brien. I godda million of 'em. Thankew. Don't forget to tip your waiter.
• You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it hold its nose to the grindstone and hunt with the hounds. Every dog has a stitch in time. Two heads? You've been sold one good turn. One good turn deserves a bird in the hand. A bird in the hand is better than no bread. To have your cake is to pay Paul. Make hay while you can still hit the nail on the head. For want of a nail the sky might fall. People in glass houses can't see the wood for the new broom. Rome wasn't built between two stools. Empty vessels wait for no man. A hair of the dog is a friend indeed. There's no fool like the fool who's shot his bolt. There's no smoke after the horse is gone. -- Paul Muldoon, "Symposium"
• very nice Bees!
• If ye don't already know his work, I highly recommend Muldoon, BlueHorse.