Originally Posted By: Cobra
Kett,

If you have never listened to "Dr" Laura, I understand why you may not get all the vitriol her name produces. I have had the misfortune to listen to her radio show, and a more vicious, judgmental, sanctimonious, adversarial voice I have rarely encountered. Perhaps her writing style is different.

This makes a lot of sense to me why there seems to be such opposing opinions of her. When I read her book I was nodding at everything she said. For me it was really refreshing to her a woman who seemed to "get" my male POV. I also found it validating after so many years of hearing that men are stupid emotionally, they don't care about anyone but themselves, and the like. I still think that regardless of how you feel about Dr. Laura personally, if you want to understand men, her book is very good.


I agree with both of you. (ha! I know...how could that possibly be??).
allow me to es'plain...
I think your assertion is right, that she "reads" better than she speaks. still pretty judgy-wudgy, though. But there are some pearls of truth in all that right-wing punditry. sort of in a "no-bs, down to brass tacks" sort of way. mostly advice of the "you catch more flies with honey..." sort. It seems simplistic (and it is), but its also true that we sometimes need to be reminded of "the fundementals".
Problem is...most of her examples seem to be from a demographic that hasn't existed since 1952. Or at least, its not very common, today. (hubby works as the sole breadwinner, wifey stays home to raise the kids). And the wifey always seems to be a rather spoiled, selfish, and shrew-ish sahm, complaining about everything whilst her poor, unappreciated hubby is out slaying those big-ol' dragons all day. This is followed up, of course, with the standard "Dr." laura tough-love..."...you should consider yourself lucky to have such a hubby...".
So of course, as a couple of guys, me and Cobra are going to be all "yeah!! what SHE said!!! woof woof woof!". And of course, I think my wife is just SO lucky to be the beneficiary of MY ~fabulous~ draggon-slaying skills, {stop that snickering!!}
But the reality is, not many people are in such black-and-white, traditional situations. (I know, this, from the guy who doesn't see "gray". so sue me).
anyway...I gotta wonder, given her examples, if she would think very highly of the 90%+ of us who aren't capable of providing the sole support for our families. not that I should care. Its just something that kinda jumped out at me.

Go ahead and read it, it won't hurt ya. Sign it out of the library, if it makes you feel better. Just make sure you do some eye-roll exercises before delving in, so as not to strain yourself.




I asked in order to use an example though the thread may have moved on. I'll go with software engineering as a topic, on the assumption this is not a high interest of yours. What if your H comes home to talk to you about this, going on for 15-30 minutes each night, night after night. He may be into it, but you aren't. How many weeks or months can you listen attentively before you start to gloss over? You still do it for him, but it starts to take some effort from you because it is sooooo boring. When do you start to feel like it is work and you'd rather talk about anything else?

know just what you mean here, too. My job being rather technical in nature...I don't have much to talk about that would be of interest to anyone but another techie. and not just "any" techie; one of my specific ilk. Really obscure, boring sh!t to you mere mortals. But W wants to talk about "my day". (I guess thats really sort of the opposite problem...same result, though). because...she's a girl, and thats what girls do. Usually, it only takes 10-15 seconds of me talking about "my day" before her eyeballs roll back into her head. But it still doesn't satisfy her need. she wants me to have something interesting to say...but I don't. The "set-up" thats required to explain anything that might happen to be on my mind takes way more than the thought itself...it just ain't worth it. Kind of like having to explain a joke. it just isn't funny anymore.