So I've been snowed in all day and decided to use the time to catch up on my reading.
And by reading, I mean rifling through the latest issue of Us Magazine. You've seen it, right? The one with Bethenny Frankel and her soon-to-be-ex-husband Jason Hoppy on the cover?
After much speculation, the couple has announced that they are, in fact, splitting up. And the reason most often given for the break-up? Bethenny's career.
Wait. What?
You heard me.
Apparently, Jason Hoppy -- everybody's favorite reality TV husband -- was jealous of his wife's success. According to Us Weekly, like, torn apart over it. It hurt his pride, you see. Made him feel emasculated. Even as he sat in a newly-renovated $5 million dollar Manhattan apartment reaping the luxuriously cushy rewards of it.
My balls were cut off two years ago, he reportedly said.
Aww. Poor Mr. Hoppy. I feel so bad for him and his inability to cope with nontraditional gender roles, don't you?
You know what word the magazine used to describe Bethenny? Driven. And they said it like it was a bad thing. Here's why I have a problem with this: Because I have a daughter. And on any given day she wants to be a wife, actor, mother, dancer, writer, doctor, rockstar, teacher.
So you tell me: How I am supposed to raise her to believe that she can have it all and be all these things when stories like this one continue to play out in the media?
How am I supposed to explain to her that there are men out there who don't want to be with a strong, successful woman, unless that strong, successful woman happens to be slightly less strong and successful than they are?
Sandra Bullock, Courteney Cox. Reese Witherspoon. Halle Berry. Jennifer Lopez. Heidi Klum.
Jessica freaking Simpson.
All women whose stars rose after marriage.
All divorced for allegedly just that reason, according to the tabloids.
Funny how these husbands didn't seem to feel emasculated by the fact that their wives were, you know, way hotter than they were. Only by the fact that they were now banking more Benjamins
It may be almost 2013, but apparently, the size of a man's cojones is directly related to the size of his wife's bank account.
And oh yeah: When it comes to marriage, beauty still trumps brains. Be a Skinnygirl! Just don't be a Skinnygirl mogul.
Good thing I have a botox appointment coming up next week.
Guess I'll bring my 10-year-old with me so she can see what her future looks like.
We've come a long way, baby!
Except that we really haven't.
Read more about parenting and pop culture on Hollee Actman Becker's blog suburbabble.