Comments Were ‘Absurd’

I read with amazement the Jan. 26 article on Warren Farrell (“Men’s Advocate in a Woman’s World”). Absurd is the most polite word I can think of. He sounds to me like a classic passive-aggressive, loaded with unaddressed anger at women. He shoots arrow after arrow, clothed in what appear to be rational arguments but which fly in the face of what we know to be true.

One: “The Bridges of Madison County” was written by a man.

Two: Farrell says, to him, a woman who is interested in a career is far more interesting than a woman who’s looking to be taken care of. Well, to me--and I venture to say to most women--a man who is interested in a career is far more interesting too.

Three: In spite of laws to the contrary, women still earn less than men, in almost every profession.

Four: All of us want at times to be taken care of. What I see is that often in two-income families, it’s the woman who still does most of the caretaking. Not to imply that men don’t or can’t. In a healthy family, the jobs are split according to interest and ability: Whichever parent is best in math helps with math homework; whichever is best with colds makes the chicken soup.

Why is it that people who can’t create good relationships for themselves are always telling the rest of us how to do it? Clearly Farrell has trouble in his personal life. By the way, I am a licensed family therapist, married for 29 years. While my children were young, I was a full-time wife and mom. Believe me, there is no job less valued by our culture, nor any more difficult, nor any more important. And women do it better.

--JESSICA DAVIS