Bingo.
This little piece is entitled "15 simple ways to keep your partner happy" by David Wygant. Oh, this should be good. Note that the title of this piece addresses "you," as in, they are addressing whoever he thinks is reading the website. As we shall see, the article is directed towards men. The implication here is that whoever is reading the site must be a man, or if there are women reading it, they're not worth marketing toward or even mentioning.
Digression: People on this forum have asked me before what the problem is with setting men as the default assumption and then switching to women. "It doesn't mean we value them any less," they say. Well, I think the title of this article is a good example of the problem with defaulting to men. Women don't get enough space or attention, and what space they do get is designated just for women ("chick flicks") and not usually considered to be of worth to the larger society (which is composed of men, natch.) Meanwhile, women are expected to like men's things, or at least put up with them, because men are the default--it's for everyone! It's for you!
So you're in a relationship and your partner starts nagging.Hooo boy.
Presumably this situation is supposed to be familiar to every man. Those nagging women! What can we do to make them shut up?
She tells you that you just don't understand her, and that she really wishes that you would just do more "little things."
Jesus Christ. "Then she starts to cry! While taking forever in the bathroom! And she tells you she has a headache!" The scare quotes and other elements of the syntax really make it sound like "you" aren't really interested in understanding her, like this is some alien woman speech. "Little things," what could that possibly mean?
1. Rub her feet instead of asking her if she wants you to rub her feet. Make it look like you want to do it.
Because you certainly don't actually want to do it. Touching your partner gently, in a way that makes her feel good--who would actually want that? But you have to make it seem like you care.
2. Make her dinner one night. Don't ask her if she wants you to make dinner. Make her dinner before she gets home.
Sigh. So what, this guy is usually home before this woman, and she usually makes dinner? No wonder she needs a foot rub--he's bloody useless. Honestly. How about instead of "one night," you make it a regular thing? "One night" is seriously a token effort here.
5. Send an eCard in the middle of the day... something cute to remind her how much you really care about her
Okay, this isn't so much a women's issue as a public service announcement: E-cards are pathetic and don't show any caring or effort at all. Geez, at least with the note you have to come up with something yourself. It's basically the equivalent of buying someone a gift certificate to Fred Meyers--PATHETIC. Do you even know this person at all?
6. If she's going on a business trip, offer to drive her to the airport or pick her up to make her life that much easier.
What the hell? How do you not do this already? This man, who the author assumes is you, is useless. Remember: sexists hate men too.
7. Let her have control of the remote control. Don't monopolize it for a change. Just give it to her and let her actually sit there and enjoying watching one of her shows. Then you can share one of her interests by watching it with her.
Bleargh. And you thought I was overreacting with the headache/bathroom line.
This one is actually problematic in several ways. It assumes that the man usually has control of the remote because, well, he's the man. He uses the word "let" to describe giving the woman the remote, as though it is an act of kindness, not a decision that the woman has any control over. He thinks men should get points (and encourages you to think the same way) for letting a woman watch one show that she wants to watch. This is what I was talking about at the beginning of the article. In this hypothetical couple, the woman is expected, whenever they watch television together, to watch what he wants to watch. Being "allowed" to watch a show that she wants to watch is considered a bonus.
8. Offer to iron one of her shirts or take her clothes to the dry cleaner.
9. Clean up the bathroom without being asked. Don't just sit there and ignore the mess around the toilet. If you know it drives her crazy to see water splashed all around the sink, dry that area after you use it. [...]
12. The next time she gives you a massage, give her a massage the next day. Offer it! Don't just say you'll give her a massage...do it!
WHO THE HELL IS THIS BLOODY USELESS JACKASS? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM?
You know what? I can't go on. Here's this, though:
It's the little things. The guy who makes the biggest mistake is the one who ignores their significant other then all of a sudden give them an expensive gift to make up for it.
Just in case someone was going to say "why are you assuming he's talking to a man? Maybe he's talking about lesbians too! Maybe YOU'RE the bigoted one!" He's talking to men about how to make their girlfriends or wives stop nagging them.
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