Are Men Really Necessary??

I'm reading this book by Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist. She is a walking encyclopedia of all articles, surveys, statistics, studies, findings that once appeared as articles in the NYT. While she fills her book with all this information, she is on a deliberate quest to educate the reader about the history of women's roles vis a vis men. She revisits feminism and eventually comes to the conclusion that we have become our own worst nightmares with the booming business of plastic surgery. That all the equal rights we were fighting for in the corporate world, in politics, and in the home, has come to a head as we realize the importance of raising the children and keeping the hubby happy in the bedroom. That all this desire to do the extreme make overs is masked by the rhetoric that it boosts our self-esteem when indeed it's to feel more desirable by the opposite sex.

I don't know...is that so bad? I will be the first to openly admit that though I have a certain standard of how I like to look in public, etc., knowing that Mike desires me and thinks I'm sexy would definitely boost my ego. I love him truly and would want nothing more than to feel the way we did the first few months of our meeting. We couldn't keep our hands off each other!! Now after a decade of knowing him and sharing all our daily realities, it would be somewhat difficult to get that "newness" back, wouldn't you say? So what better way to rekindle that fire with a little make over?

In my opinion, being able to choose to stay home or work and compete with the best of them, is what we fought for during the feminist revolution. When I see how pigeon-holed my cousins in Korea are in terms of what their roles "need to be" as women, I know we live in a pretty great country. It allows us women to be what we want to be...out of personal choice...not societal pressure. Mike is great that way too. He's supportive of the choices I make because he trusts that I make them with all responsibilities in mind and with 100% commitment to follow.