The other day I was watching one of my favorite movies, Tai-Pan. There’s a scene in it where a henpecked husband is advising the English protagonist about how to deal with his Chinese mistress. He’s been too kind to her, the husband explains; she needs him to play the master. In the midst of this conversation, the shrew he’s married to storms in and literally physically drags him away, and everyone else laughs heartily at the absurd spectacle.
Jokes about henpecked husbands used to be quite common. Okay, nowadays men make rueful jokes about how their wives make all the decisions, but the implication is resignation to the fact that this is the lot of all men in this world.
It used to be that women who wore the pants in the family were rare, and the husbands who allowed it were objects of ridicule. The ridicule served a valuable societal function: men were careful to keep control of their wives and families lest they become the butt of such jokes.
Alas, now nearly all men have given in, and the ones who know they shouldn’t, have been compelled to by a corrupt legal system.
Let us hope for the day when a henpecked husband is once again an object of mockery.
