This floors me....

[vanillafluffy]

Blurb under a Yahoo "news" story: Jesse James reportedly is seeking professional help to deal with "personal issues" after a cheating scandal that has put his nearly five-year marriage to Sandra Bullock on the line.

Nearly five years? What have we become as a society that five years is considered a LONG time for a marriage to last?! My parents were of the "til death to us part" generation---but then, my dad also worked for the same company for 30+ years, and I will admit, I've never made it past five with any of my jobs, though not for lack of trying.

There's a clue there; he's "seeking professional help". While there can be good reasons for that, too often I believe it's used as an excuse. (Personal issues, my ass.) Oh poor me, I have ISSUES, I don't have to take personal responsibility because it's all outside my control. Dude, save your money. I don't care if your jewels turn blue and explode, if you really respect the woman you're married to, you'll rein in those horn-dog impulses of yours. Suck it up and keep it in your pants, it's that goddamn simple.
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Comments

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Today, yes, but if you look at the older generation of Hollywood (the ones who are dying out, alas), they made their marriages work. Thirty, forty, fifty years---it can be done, but I suppose part of that is, they generally weren't two-career families with dueling egos. Heretical as it may sound, sometimes, I don't think Women's Lib did us any favors.

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure you can generalize about either Hollywood or the population as a whole. Some marriages work, some don't, no matter who you are. You can be someone who stays married FOREVER or you can be Liz Taylor, Mickey Rooney, etc. (Or you can be Spencer Tracy or Gary Cooper, who stayed with their wives because of Catholicism, but weren't actually faithful, some more publically than others.)

About the only thing I'll say about the women's movement relative to marriage is that made it socially more acceptable for women to get out of bad marriages, when previously the societal pressure to stay would have been stronger.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm romanticizing, bad habit of mine. There are enough of that crowd who aren't married but have had successful long-term relationships---it's a question of commitment, not a white dress and a piece of paper.

And I agree, I know some gals who are well rid of the bozos they married. (I just want a non-bozo to keep my in the style to which I would like to become accustomed. Call me a throwback to a 50s housewife....)

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

You know what really bugged me, was hearing that Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandan had split, because they seemed like a couple that really had it together. Kids, politics etc. So that was a bit disillusioning.

And to make one more not terribly relevant point, since I brought up La Liz. I firmly believe that every time she got married and said the words, she honestly thought it would be forever. I think aside from being the patron saint of Fag-Hags, she's also the greatest romantic of all time.