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Vas Deference: Michael Lewis Gets Vasectomy To Appease His Wife

First Posted: 03/28/08 03:45 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 01:20 PM ET

Michael Lewis Vasectomy

Slate:

Splayed on the operating table, staring at the back of a nurse scrubbing her hands, I was struck by the possibility that, in addition to its other challenges, a vasectomy might be a socially awkward experience. "Do you need to empty your bladder?" asked the nurse, who clearly found hospital English the safest language in which to address a stranger's genitals. The clinic walls were undecorated, save for a lone medical drawing of the male sex organ, flayed to reveal its sober inner logic.

"I don't think so," I said.

"OK," she said. "I'll be right back to give you a shaving," and left to do whatever nurses do before they apply razors to testicles. Two months earlier, in the pre-interview, during which it was determined that whatever I may have been told by my wife or the state police, I was under no legal obligation to be sterilized, the doctor explained that California law required a cooling off period between consultation and operation. On that chilly afternoon, he told me many other things about vasectomies but somehow failed to mention that they began with a good ball-shaving from a woman who didn't look you in the eye, or say a word beyond the bare minimum.

Read the whole story: Slate

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08:17 PM on 01/20/2008
The New Castrati now has a poster boy.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ESerafina42
Abandoned by wolves, raised by Republicans.
04:43 PM on 01/19/2008
Irrelevant "story," really tacky photo.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tom95134
12:39 PM on 01/19/2008
And women scream about their reproductive rights? There is only one way to describe Lewis... Pussy-whipped.
11:49 AM on 01/19/2008
It is pretty dang sad and hilarious how self absorbed this guy is. The woman shaving him was probably headed off into the next O.R. to shave someone who was having a tumor removed from their spinal column or something...

Plus, even though it's a completely legitimate way for a couple to go if they both agree... if a woman just hounds a guy into it by reminding him that he 'promised to', or orders him to get one, that is just really, really sad and pathetic.

It would be the same if a husband ordered his wife to get her tubes tied and she didn't really want to but did it to please him.

Then again, every couple has their own stuff that other people might not understand looking in from the outside. Still... this guy comes off as a weak willed little boy who needs a mommy more than a female partner to share life with.

To me, any elective surgery is not a good surgery to have.

Shoulda just triple bagged it like a real man, Mikey.
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Imzadi
Proud Progressive for decades
09:37 AM on 01/19/2008
Wah Wah, so he got snipped. How self absorbed can this guy be? 1 week of discomfort vs. 24 months for his wife.
06:18 AM on 01/19/2008
I think he lacked "Balls" in the first place....
01:04 AM on 01/19/2008
Wow, thanks for the article. If I ever had any thoughts of getting a vasctomy I am sure I never will again.I am sure I would be one of those "No Shows" that your doctor mentioned. Condoms are satisfactory, thank you.

I have to wonder why the matter of your wife having children would make a vasectomy mandatory or acceptable. I don't see the logic in it when there are so many varieties of birth control available...
12:38 AM on 01/19/2008
Never heard of him.
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klmebane
11:39 PM on 01/18/2008
i'm surprised how few comments there are on this topic. i was expecting to read men complaining that the wife should've gotten herself fixed if she didn't want anymore babies. (like she hadn't done enough in the children department already) the only problem with that line of reasoning is that the procedure for a man to get fixed is much less invasive than for a woman. he was in and out that day, whereas a woman would have been in the hospital for a few days and had a recovery time of, give or take, a few months. in case any of you are curious that is because for a woman to have her tubes tied it is like having a cesarian section. they have to cut through skin, fat, and muscle to access the pelvic cavity, and then sew it all back up. that's a lot of healing to do. fyi, both procedures are reversible, so if mr. lewis for whatever reason wishes to have more kids they can reconnect the vas deferens.

i have always wondered why men view getting the snip as losing their manhood. it isn't like their being castrated, nor is it as if they actually have to bear the children. any guys care to answer that for me?? i'm always up for a good discussion, so i'm hoping i get some response to this post.
02:10 PM on 01/18/2008
Typical Liberal male. As RUSH says Liberal men wives have the nads in the "Testile Lockbox"