Jezebel
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rules & regulations
What Makes A Good Wife Or Husband? You Tell Us
So we've been posting all these excerpts from the reprints of How to be a Good Husband and How to be a Good Wife for your amusement (and, perhaps, education?). Although the manuals, written in the 1930s, seemed reasonably progressive for their time ("Don't pose as a weak little thing," Good Wife admonishes), they certainly don't cover most of the issues germane to a romantic entanglement in 2008. But, thanks to your comments, we've been collecting some suggestions for good spousedom in the 21st century! Like: "Let her win at Guitar Hero sometimes, but not all the time," and "Don't expect a backrub to turn into sex. Just give her a backrub with no agenda once in a while". More » -
"Do refrain from treating your wife as a plaything, endeavouring to wrap her in cotton wool, or sheltering her from every wind that blows. After all she is your co-partner and as such you should allow her to shoulder a certain amount of responsibility. Do take care not to make fun of your wife's little foibles in front of other people. She may join in the joke, and laugh at them herself, but you are asking for a bad ten minutes when your visitors have gone."— From a 1930's guide to marriage, How to be a Good Husband, originally aimed at middle class British couples; now being re-distributed by the University of Chicago Press. [University of Chicago Press]
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"Don't confine your acts of courtesy to your wife's pretty girl friends. Be as ready to see Miss Prudence Dowdy, who is very much of a bore, back to her home as you would the charming Miss Dolly Dimple."— From a 1930's guide to marriage, How to be a Good Husband, now being reprinted. [University of Chicago Press]
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"Don't tell your wife terminal inexactitudes, which are, in plain English, lies. A woman has a wonderful intuition for spotting departures from the truth, and however much she has an aptitude for indulging in them herself, she scorns the male who utters them. Lying to her is a sign of weakness and weakness in a man she regards as a crime."— From a 1930's guide to marriage, How to be a Good Husband, originally aimed at middle class British couples; now being reprinted and redistributed. [University of Chicago Press]
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"Don't dress for other men or women, not even to outdo the latter, but dress for your husband. Do this with the same care that you did before you were married. If there is a particular dress that he likes, but it on occasionally even if it out of fashion. Never forget that in matters of dress a man is usually conservative, and once he has settled he likes something that you wear he will go on preferring it even to the latest Paris creation."— From a 1930's guide to marriage, How to be a Good Wife, originally aimed at middle class British couples. Now being reprinted by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford and distributed by the University of Chicago Press. [University of Chicago Press]
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"Don't pose as a weak little thing that cannot go on a journey unless your husband buys your ticket and puts you on the train. Wives who do this got out-of-date while Queen Victoria was alive. And a woman who still persists in being femininely frail has few admirers, to-day. Of course, if a wife asks her husband to come and see her off because she enjoys his company, that's quite another thing." — From a 1930's guide to marriage, How to be a Good Wife, originally aimed at middle class British couples; now being reprinted by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford and distributed by the University of Chicago Press. . [University of Chicago Press]
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"Husbands are not terribly difficult to manage. Certainly, they are not nearly as difficult as they imagine in their own hearts. If your husband is of the awkward class, you either picked a bad one or you don't know the elementary rules of 'husband management'." — From a 1930's guide to marriage, How to be a Good Wife, originally aimed at middle class British couples; now being reprinted by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford and distributed by the University of Chicago Press. . [University of Chicago Press]
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1-7 of 7 for "How to Be A Good Wife"
