DANE, You imply that men work harder than women. Only people who have never experienced the day to day 24hour care of small children and babies make that statement. Ask any new parents and they will tell you that they were absolutely astounded and exhausted by the sheer amount of work involved in caring for a new baby. Add toddlers to the mix as well and the job doubles in intensity.

In a few of the cases that I have heard stated here and in a lot of cases in my own experience, when the children arrive the men don’t adequately pull their weight (I’m not saying all), and that’s when the women often leave. I’ve seen it and heard it many times.

One of my daughters has four children from age 10years down to 3years and she has always worked full time in much higher paying jobs than her husband although he has a Uni degree. Yet she constantly has to get behind him to pull his weight with the children. Any one who works and has to come home and look after young children often has another four hours of work at least,ahead of them. For you to say that men should retire because they work harder than women shows that you have no understanding of the pressures women face at all.

Do you look forward to your week-ends at home Dane? Well my daughter says she hates week-ends because of the work load with the children and much prefers to be at work. I have heard a lot of other women with children say that too.

One of the well known hosts on one of the morning shows I think her name is Lisa Wilkinson , once said on T.V. that she just broke down and cried one morning from the sheer exasperation of trying to get all her children ready for school . Until you have been there and experienced that kind of stress with young children you just don’t understand

HASBEEN,

Thank you for your good-natured response to my X and Y Chromosome post.

You may do whatever you so desire with your X Chromosome but as a female I do not have a Y Chromosome only a double X but maybe your reply was tongue in cheek.

Or maybe you are a homosexual without a Y Chromosome.

Hmmm. I think what CJ, pelican and R0bert are telling me is I need to acknowledge and change so I don't poison my next relationship....

Well there will be no second time around for this guy....If you didn't read between the lines; I really do not like what I have observed women doing in this world...

What should I change...That i did everything i could to communicate well, I was a good husband and good father....She simply went with someone who falsely offered her excitement in a mundane relationship..Let's face it, kids, work, kids, work, dinner, kids is not exciting...But, it is my experience that men will stick it out for their family...Woman with their new found freedom will attack until he leaves or she will leave...Too many years as she put it...Very compatible, just too many years...

So the change I'll make is not get in to a long term relationship again.....I'm still a good looking guy, so I'll be the stereotypical "there are no good men anymore"....Exactly the guy woman have made me....Thanks for listening...This 350 word limit is prohiitve!

The scientific fact is that its a mans world, so man up and do some man things, such as urinating all over the place and scratching one's nuts.

I dunno if there's an actual crisis or not, or how such a crisis could be measured anyway, but there does seem to be a tendency to overcompensate where there is a chance to exercise exaggeration... Much the same way Australians visiting England call everybody "cobber/digger/maaate" and say "strewth/crikey/G'day" just in case somebody does not read the writing on the T shirt or recognise the flag... There is a tendency for younger men to overdo the female anatomy jokes, and overdo the F-word and C-word as well.

Its starting younger and younger, there are less and less male teachers in schools. The male teachers there are left, possibly are not great examples of masculinity, poor henpecked wrecks just trying to see out their time and collect their super in between vexatious sexual harassment claims.

I guess it is a pendulum kind of thing, in the past minorities got a hard time so we have to let them have a free kick now. Once we collectively man up against the female/gay oppressors, and reclaim the power of cabanossi, things will be fine once more. Unfortunately, that will be in 326 years.

Pelican, if you have not seen what Billy is talking about, you've had your eyes closed, or agree with injustice.

I've seen it many times. She has grown up with a dream. Happy family, a man & woman, with a couple of kids, lovely house nice car, & furniture. They are all happy, & smiling in the picture, but strangely the man has no face.

At mid 20s she's getting a bit worried, no prince charming has appeared. Sensibly she settles for the best she can get. He's a bit boring, no real spark or excitement, but she moulds him into that picture, even if the face still doesn't show.

He doesn't know how it happened, but he is a happy family man, putting everything into making her & the kids happy. He's still boring with no dream or goal of his own, but he is content living hers.

She grows disillusioned with this dream. It does not give her the happiness she thought it wood, & she still can't see his face, he's just "the husband". 10, 15, or 20 years later she realises that if she plays her cards right, she can get most of the assets, even his future income, but get rid of this faceless man, & try to find a more fulfilling dream.

She doesn't find happiness, but destroys him in trying. He thought they were happy. Sure she had been a bit distant, & a little mean of late, but isn't everyone. He can't even try again, it is years before he can afford even a night out.

These are the blokes Billy is on about. Screwed over by first her, then the family court. Like Jim, living on the 23 ft boat he built out of plywood, just before the brake up. It's all he has to show for 18 years. He'd like to drink, but can't afford it.

In 4 years, the second kid reaches whatever age it is, so he can start paying less. Then he will probably be able to drink himself into an early grave.

Sorry about that Cherful, I have always have been hopeless about medical stuff.

I always reckoned you couldn't catch something if you had never heard of it, or did not know what the symptoms were, so I've always avoided doctors.

I'll try not to get my Xs & Ys, & things mixed up again.