Humour

OK to slap spendthrift wife

“ Newspaper Report: A Saudi judge has told a seminar on domestic violence that it is okay for a man to slap his wife for lavish spending, a local newspaper in Saudi Arabia, reported. Juddah judge Hamad al-Razine gave the example of overspending to buy a high-end abaya, as justifying a smack for one’s wife . “

How naïve the judge could be? ‘ Over spending ‘ is not a term in the vocabulary of women. That has been the position since time immemorial or from the time Madame Cleopatra made Caesar and Anthony to dance to her tunes. A man is absolutely satisfied if his wardrobe consists of two dozen shirts / pants / a dozen coats. He would think twice before purchasing new shoes if he has ten good shoes. But in the case of women there is no limit. Affordability is a word applicable to men only. To women, begging/borrowing/stealing ( from husband’s purse ) is not a crime but a legitimate action if the same has been done for shopping. Poor women! They have to score above their best friends in having and also purchasing new dresses. That is not a point of issue for men folk. Fashion designers know well the logic and alchemy of women and that is why they come up with new designs every other day, unlike in the case of men, where a style remains in vogue for considerable time, sometimes even for a few decades. You don’t agree. What change has come to shirts/pants/coats in the matter of design during the last one decade. Zilch.

Silly man would wear the same dress which he likes for a dozen parties and every alternate day to office. But it would be mortifying for a women to be seen in the same dress in a party for atleast a month. For a man, friends and colleagues are not competitors in the matter of dress; contrary to the position applicable to a woman. Her main competition in this area is with her friends and colleagues.

The honourable judge appears to have no clue about the psyche of women. ‘ Sale’ attracts them like bees to honey, irrespective of the number of dresses they have. It is a must for them to keep up with the latest fashion. Man should appreciate, but he does not, that in the case of men fashion does not change eons, whereas it is a weekly, if not daily, occurrence in the case of women.

Women buy new dresses for various reasons: ‘ because others have it, because others do not have it, because it is the latest fashion, because it is affordable ( even if one has to take a loan for the same, i.e., if begging/borrowing/stealing, as mentioned above, are not options available for a number of reasons.’

The honourable judge also appears to have no clue on the psychology of women. If over-spending only invites a smack, many a women would gladly opt for such a minor punishment and go on with over-spending.