Friday, June 07, 2013

99 Problems... but

Big A is a great feminist partner. He understands my compulsion to make terms as neutral as possible, especially around the children.

One of my early conversations with him (with most people, probably--I'm annoying like that) is the use of terms like "wife" and "husband" and the gendered expectations they set up. How to be a good wife engenders very different responses (usually) from how to be a good husband.  I prefer the idea of being a good partner, a good spouse.

I think it says so much about Big A that he took the irritating (because somewhat infantilizing, dismissive) slogan "Happy wife; happy life" and fixed it. We say, "Happy spouse; happy house."

All this is to establish that Big A was not going to use the word "bitch" in front of the kids at dinner (or ever) when he started off riffing on the Ice-T/Jay-Z line. I wonder what he was going to say. Because this is what happened:
Big A: I got 99 problems, but...
Nu: (Interjecting) That's a lot!
Stares at her family as they collapse in laughter.
Fin.

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1 comment:

AAL said...

That is awesome!

what we are built for

in the days when the kids were smaller and my parents younger and they lived here  six months of the year                                   ...