Apparently, the habit ladies have of hitting their men in full public view is more widespread than I feared. Is this how women behave with men nowadays? Did a social change take place that I was woefully unaware of?
At a party I recently hosted for a group of old friends, one girl brought her fiancé to the gathering. Post dinner, while lounging by the TV, the happy couple delved into the details of the food to be served at their wedding. There will be chicken and mutton amongst other dishes, the two confirmed. “But hey,” the soon-to-be groom turned towards his fiancée, with genuine concern. “Aren’t you allergic to red meat?” In response, just like that, the lovely bride-to-be reached out to whack his head with all the strength she could muster. “What do you think, eh?” she shrilled, laughing uncontrollably. “Don’t make fun of me.” Judging by his stunned look, I was pretty sure the hapless man didn’t intend on mocking his lady love. Besides, it wasn’t even a joke that would have encouraged a feminist to send her underwear back to the fire. But boy, did that shut me up.
Apparently, this habit ladies have of hitting their men in full public view is more widespread than I feared. Last week while queuing up at Mad Over Donuts, I spotted a couple placing an order for 10 boxes of donuts. While waiting, the man whispered something inaudible into the woman’s ear and by way of a reply, she grasped his neck with a robotic smile and squeezed it. Very hard. The man, to be fair, reacted with as much dignity as one could have expected: he howled in pain, frantically brushed off her hand, and jumped two steps away from her in sheer horror. She, I am sure, thought the whole scene very cutesy.
After a few days of spying on couples, I thought that most of these women are those who have perhaps entered that dreadful realm of marriage where they no longer care about the way they treat their husbands. But, nope. My theory was quickly crushed. On my way to work by train, I saw a school-going girl repeatedly slap her similarly aged, nerdy male companion who giggled uncontrollably (perhaps at his unbelievable luck at having a girl lay her hands on him, even if it was only to beat him blue and black). Of course, these ladies had no real intention of causing harm to the men. It was all in jest.
I turned to the internet so I could understand this phenomenon. I found pages and pages of men complaining of being beaten up by their mothers, wives and daughters while a couple of others hoped to spark off the ‘if boys cant, why should girls’ debate. Clearly, there are more tormented men out there than I thought. It’s as simple as this — give respect and get respect.
Or is this how women behave with men nowadays? Did a social change take place that I was woefully unaware of? Once, during an outing, my cousin mocked my aversion to jalapenos and I, quickly seizing the opportunity, lightly punched his arm. “What. Did. You. Do,” asked my cousin, spelling out each syllable to highlight the gravity of the situation. “What’s wrong with hitting you?,” I persisted. “Oh man,” he said. “Don’t you dare repeat it!”
God bless his soul.
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