age of independence...
Recently I was having a conversation with someone I have known over the phone and in email for almost four years. The talk turned personal as it always does, and he asked didn't I want to be his kept woman. I had to think a bit and then reply in email to give him the full answer. It follows...
He made very complimentary comments later, but I think he is biased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That is the problem you see, the unuttered 'but'
is the guilt inherent in being "kept" in this day
and age of two income households and
career-before-children feminism.
Every little girl secretly dreams of growing up
and being discovered by her very own handsome
prince who will very romantically sweep her off her
feet and into his three bedroom with den and
formal dining room ranch style home to give her
her every desire where she is not responsible for
bills or mortgages and she will be his queen
forever. Only we grew up in the age of ERA and
post free-love and career-Barbie, so we can't
really have that as a goal or dream because it
betrays feminism and our grandmothers who riveted
WWII planes and paved the way for us in the
workforce and on and on and on...
And in this age of have-it-all, maybe we have
unreal expectations, we think we can have career,
kids, spouses and fulfillment.
I would LOVE nothing better than to be kept by
you, to be always ready for your attention,
catering to your needs and enjoying the hell out
of myself in the process. But nowadays, kept
women are rather outdated. Back in our
greatgrandfather's era, women weren't EXPECTED to
DO anything, so how do we justify "kept"ness in
this age? We can't. And man, that sucks.
So it isn't that I CAN'T, it's that I won't,
because that particular guilt is not yet a guilt
I can let slide off.
And maybe that would be too easy, you can't
'keep' a woman you have never actually met, now
can you?
But never think I am unwilling, only torn between
the desire for my every secret wish and the
reality of modern life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He made very complimentary comments later, but I think he is biased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That is the problem you see, the unuttered 'but'
is the guilt inherent in being "kept" in this day
and age of two income households and
career-before-children feminism.
Every little girl secretly dreams of growing up
and being discovered by her very own handsome
prince who will very romantically sweep her off her
feet and into his three bedroom with den and
formal dining room ranch style home to give her
her every desire where she is not responsible for
bills or mortgages and she will be his queen
forever. Only we grew up in the age of ERA and
post free-love and career-Barbie, so we can't
really have that as a goal or dream because it
betrays feminism and our grandmothers who riveted
WWII planes and paved the way for us in the
workforce and on and on and on...
And in this age of have-it-all, maybe we have
unreal expectations, we think we can have career,
kids, spouses and fulfillment.
I would LOVE nothing better than to be kept by
you, to be always ready for your attention,
catering to your needs and enjoying the hell out
of myself in the process. But nowadays, kept
women are rather outdated. Back in our
greatgrandfather's era, women weren't EXPECTED to
DO anything, so how do we justify "kept"ness in
this age? We can't. And man, that sucks.
So it isn't that I CAN'T, it's that I won't,
because that particular guilt is not yet a guilt
I can let slide off.
And maybe that would be too easy, you can't
'keep' a woman you have never actually met, now
can you?
But never think I am unwilling, only torn between
the desire for my every secret wish and the
reality of modern life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~