Without even making an attempt at subtlety, the Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled, "Meet the Marriage Killer," warning women (experts say it's usually them!) who are big naggy nagsters to stop nagging if they don't want their asses thrown to the curb. Because nagging can be just as threatening to a marriage as adultery and bad finances (experts say, damn it!). So married ladies, if you want to keep a ring on it, listen up:
It is possible for husbands to nag, and wives to resent them for nagging. But women are more likely to nag, experts say, largely because they are conditioned to feel more responsible for managing home and family life. And they tend to be more sensitive to early signs of problems in a relationship. When women ask for something and don't get a response, they are quicker to realize something is wrong. The problem is that by asking repeatedly, they make things worse.
Women. Always nagging and making things worse. And poor men! Can never escape from their mothers, not even when they move out of the house and get married (because men live with their mothers until then these days, right? Since we're playing the mid-twentieth-century stereotype game), because their wives will inevitably become their mothers. Their always-nagging mothers. Nag nag nag.
Men are to blame, too, because they don't always give a clear answer. Sure, a husband might tune his wife out because he is annoyed; nagging can make him feel like a little boy being scolded by his mother. But many times he doesn't respond because he doesn't know the answer yet, or he knows the answer will disappoint her.
But, you know, I think the WSJ picked the worst possible example to show how "toxic" nagging can be. They interviewed a New Jersey woman named Janet Pfeiffer who put a Post-It in the sandwich she packed her husband for lunch, telling him to meet her at Home Depot at 6 p.m. When her constant nagging became too much of a problem in their marriage, she did what any normal person would do: put Post-Its on everything. I don't know about the rest of the Wall Street Journal's readers, but I'm pretty sure that from now on, I'm going to insist on always packing sandwiches for my roommate (and, eventually, for whichever man ends up tolerating me for an extended period of time) just so I can stick Post-Its in them.
