Hell, I'm glad I read all that stuff. You think it sounds bad for women? How about for men?
Your wife gives birth, gets fat, and then won't sleep with you anymore. It doesn't matter if you still think she looks good, SHE thinks she looks awful and undesirable. Bottom line, she won't sleep with you.
And if you help out around the house, cook, share all the various unpleasant domestic duties, you're a "kitchen bitch" (thanks Sandra Tsing-Loh) and not a real man. And if you don't do all those things, you're worthless and don't help out. And if you work outside the home and she works inside the home, you're a 1950s-era caveman, and are preventing her from reaching some sort of Feminist epiphany -- because obviously working moms are always so much happier. Either way, mom is pissed.
She might some day have an affair, in which case, she'll get lots of sympathetic nods from the various bloggers on Slate XX. But if you have an affair -- god help you. You're A VERY BAD MAN, and nobody sympathizes with you, even though it's already been established that your wife won't sleep with you anymore. Funny thing about that -- she sure seemed to like sex enough before you had a kid.
And don't even think about divorce. If you go that route, she gets the kids, and you get a monthly invoice. Sure, they may throw you a crumb in the way of visitation rights, but what happens when mommy and her new musclebound boyfriend (who she was probably sleeping with before you divorced) want to move across the country? Well, tough luck, my man. Suck it up and deal. You've got child support and alimony payments to make, which will pretty much prevent you from starting another family again. Better start enjoying those ramen noodles and Friends re-runs! This is your life! Welcome to the 21st century.
I'm glad I've read the mommy blogs. No way in hell I'm having kids. Or maybe I'll just stay single and adopt.
.... actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
