“I Need a Husband” In the mid 20th century, the United States culture was centered around the idea that a happy family consisted of a man and a woman who loved each other, working together to live and raise their children. However, the first chapter of The Hearts of Men, argues that this cliché was completely false, and that the men and women of the time recognized the roles that they played as unfair and embarrassing. Ehrenreich states that the holy matrimony between a man and a woman could be seen as strictly an economic beneficiary to the woman, and an economic responsibility to men. The chapter immediately starts off with the statement, “Women need men much more than men need women” (1). Erenreich is setting up the basis of the breadwinner
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What are the men getting out of this arrangement? She refers to married men as bitter, earning mechanisms for women who have gained nothing but a large responsibility out of their marriage, an overgeneralization that could offend not only women, but men as well. Later in the chapter she discusses the affects that marriage has on men. Research has found that men who are married are happier than those who are not, and the emotional support that they get from their wives cannot be replaced by anything else (10). Erenreich also fails to address the fulfillment and joy that children can bring to a man. Although this book is not about that part of a man and a woman being together, children have the ability to completely change how a man looks at his “breadwinning role”. Men can experience the benefit of having a wife and a family just as much as his female counterpart can. It cannot be denied that a man’s role in the family was very different than the woman’s, but Erenreich states these roles balance one another out. The man could not have a family without the woman, and the woman could not have a family without the man. The love and emotional support cannot be received from anyone else either. The Hearts of Men does a very good job on looking at marriage in a strictly economic way, and not as a mutual partnership between two people who love each other. Maybe naïve, but this is a very important part, one that I believe no form of economic stability can
What are the men getting out of this arrangement? She refers to married men as bitter, earning mechanisms for women who have gained nothing but a large responsibility out of their marriage, an overgeneralization that could offend not only women, but men as well. Later in the chapter she discusses the affects that marriage has on men. Research has found that men who are married are happier than those who are not, and the emotional support that they get from their wives cannot be replaced by anything else (10). Erenreich also fails to address the fulfillment and joy that children can bring to a man. Although this book is not about that part of a man and a woman being together, children have the ability to completely change how a man looks at his “breadwinning role”. Men can experience the benefit of having a wife and a family just as much as his female counterpart can. It cannot be denied that a man’s role in the family was very different than the woman’s, but Erenreich states these roles balance one another out. The man could not have a family without the woman, and the woman could not have a family without the man. The love and emotional support cannot be received from anyone else either. The Hearts of Men does a very good job on looking at marriage in a strictly economic way, and not as a mutual partnership between two people who love each other. Maybe naïve, but this is a very important part, one that I believe no form of economic stability can