Whipped Man Syndrome

No, it's not a date night dessert, nor is it an infectious disease. It is a truly perplexing phenomenon that seems rampant among married men, particularly those over 40. I call it "Whipped Man Syndrome".

I'm not referring to the 20-something guy who spends every waking moment with his girlfriend to the point he abandons all his friends. That's a different type of whipped, as is the new husband who'll go on a tampon run at 11:00pm at night. No, those aren't the men who have me puzzling, though they are probably worthy of a separate blog.

This contemplation all started with a t-shirt that Adam received. It was a gift from his mom on her trip to Sedona, and the shirt is embossed with this wisdom: "If a man speaks in the desert with no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?" Mom got it as a ha-ha gift for Adam, and no slight to her on her gift choice. Considering the fact that first time Adam wore it out in public FIVE PEOPLE commented on it, the manufacturers can obviously sell a few of 'em. And, I guarantee, it was a dude that came up with it.

What started my reel of thought regarding this shirt was the type of man who would stand around the bar-b-q grill with his fellow whipped men and complain about the fact his wife is always so critical of him, yet he'd don this or a similar shirt as if to say to the world, "yeah, my wife controls me and I'm proud of it!" I've heard these men in their clusters before, using a condescending "yes, dear" when the wife asks if he'll set the table and promptly rolls his eyes when her back is turned. They'll sit around and moan about the fact they never get to watch a football game in peace, yet they hop right into the driver's seat when the wife announces it's time to buy new dish towels on a Sunday afternoon in October.

So, my question to these guys is-- if your wife is so horrible, your life so miserable, your thoughts so constricted-- WHY do you put it on a shirt and laugh about it later? Is it the woman that's whipping him, or is he doing it to himself because it's easier than admitting that he likes shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond?

This blog doesn't have a darn thing to do with running, but it's my blog, and if I feel like contemplating worldly matters, I will. It's what I do with my time while I have my husband out shopping for tampons.