Men on Austen

[sartorias]

D. A. Miller’s Jane Austen, or the Secret of Style is a very short book, extremely well written, dense with fascinating thought. Disquieting thought, even, as I find myself wanting to explain, excuse, make everything nice when he discusses the comfortable het world’s assumptions about Austen's books from a non-het POV. Like his analysis of the

Comments

[dichroic]

Yup. And the only difference marriage made is that I was able to make that response to complaints about husbands as well as to complaints about men in general. My feeling is that women who treat men as a separate (and less understanding) species are encouraging them to behave that way, and vice versa.

I've known women who didn't want their husbands to have female friends. I don't think I'd want one who didn't. How else would he have learned that people are defined by much more than plumbing?

[deborahjross]

And then, I'm delighted that my husband's very dearest friend is a woman.

[sartorias]

Where as I am still celebrating the fact that my best friend (a guy) found the woman in his life who is so, so, so very perfect for him that she's become his best friend as well as his wife.

[cakmpls]

While I don't think my husband has ever read Austen, otherwise I have had much the same experience.