Women
Dr Laura - This sense of entitlement comes from a culture that has elevated feelings over obligation, responsibility, and commitment. “I have a right to be happy, don’t I” is not an infrequent comment from callers frustrated that their marriages haven’t put them in a perpetual valium –drip state. And this focus on happiness helps them to rationalize their virtual abandonment of marriage and family, replacing it with hobbies, drugs and alcohol, work, affairs, whining in therapy or with friends and family, or hostility directed at those who love them. This is not a minor issue. This is the point I bring to the attention of many women callers who, with unrealistic demands and outrageously negative behaviors, determine that the solution to the problems in their home is divorce. They are wrong if they think a new pair of pants will change their lives – because the same skirt will be in the room! (Dr. Laura, Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, pg 4-5) "
Dr Laura - "As a radio talk- show host/psychotherapist, I’ve got to tell you how remarkably true and sad it is that so many women struggle to hold on to some jerk, keep giving an abusive or Philandering man yet another chance, have unprotected sex with some guy while barely knowing his last name, agree to shack up and risk making babies with some opportunist or loser, all in a pathetic version of a pursuit for love, but will resent the hell out of treating a decent, hardworking, caring husband with the thoughtfulness, attention, respect, and affection he needs to be content. It boggles my mind. What further puts me in boggle overdrive is how seemingly oblivious and insensitive many women are to how destructive they are being to their men and consequently to their marriages. Women will call me to ask if its alright to go off on extended vacations “without him” when they want freedom or R&R, or if its ok to cut him off from sex because they’re annoyed about something or just too tired from their busy day, or if they really have to make him a dinner when he gets home from work because its just too tedious to plan meals." (Doctor Laura, Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, pg xiv)
Dr Laura - "Think about it for even one minute: How many women’s magazines talk about women’s obligations to their men and children? Not many. The typical article is about deserving freedom. These days, so many young women are products of divorces or never created homes, were neglected by career mothers, were indoctrinated by the anti-family feminists throughout their schooling, and are surrounded by a culture that glorifies selfish gratification over sacrifice, it’s no wonder so many women are “surprised” to not only hear of their obligations to husbands and children, but are also amazed at the gratification derived from doing so. (Dr. Laura, Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, pg 32)"
Dr Laura - Pop psyche and women’s magazines generally recommend that when a woman is “fed up” with her life, it’s time for spas, solo vacations, more girlfriend time, plastic surgery, affairs, or divorce. This is all in search for “getting one’s own needs met.” (Dr. Laura, Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, pg 162)
Dr Laura - This grandiose self-centeredness about the value of women, paired with a virtual disdain for men, leads women to treat men badly. Too many women look at men with a sense of entitlement versus an opportunity for selflessness. Why? All of those forces taken together have given women a false sense of superiority (Dr. Laura, Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, pg 54)
Lori Gottlieb - "unfortunately a lot of women grew up thinking the 'we can have it all' mentality of feminism." The way she sees it, this version of feminism has hurt women by inflating their egos and giving them a false sense of what they deserve. "Part of it comes from the media and the movies. Everything we see is always women telling each other how fabulous they are and that they deserve the best. (AKA: entitlement complexes) It happens in real life, too. Your friend will say, 'Don't you think I can do better?' and we say, 'You go, girl; go for the best!' even though we know maybe this guy is the best she can get." And, she adds, neither are we honest with ourselves: "We think, 'Oh, I'm so unique and special' and in our romantic fantasies we think that some guy is going to see us for how uniquely special we are, when most of us are pretty ordinary." http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... s-marriage
Lori Gottlieb - We grew up thinking that marriage meant feeling some kind of divine spark, and so we walked away from uninspiring relationships that might have made us happy in the context of a family. Our culture tells us to keep our eyes on the prize (while our mothers, who know better, tell us not to be so picky), and the theme of holding out for true love (whatever that is—look at the divorce rate) permeates our collective mentality.”http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/03/marry-him/6651/