Monday, January 08, 2007

head, spinning

So yesterday a classmate waltzed into the room, brandishing her great-grandmother's ring on her left hand, and the Engagement Squeal ricocheted throughout the building as everyone sighed in ecstasy. He proposed! On New Year's! During the fireworks! He got down on his knee! And when he got the ring, he asked her dad for permission to marry her!

At which point I left the room, so that when my head exploded, I wouldn't get incredulous brain matter all over the diamond and sapphires. Permission. He asked her father for permission, and people still think this is the height of romance, instead of, you know, UTTERLY REVOLTING.

And then I was sitting at the bakery this morning and Cute Barrista Girl came and talked to me during her break; she noticed the bumper sticker on my laptop ("I Break For Hot Chicks") and laughed. This girl's been confusing me of late, I've been privately referring her as The Queen of Mixed Signals, because she gives off huge dyke vibes, but she has a husband and a least two little ones. But it turns out she is bisexual, and--get this--her husband helped her come out. Which is awesome, and totally restores my faith in humanity.

7 Comments:

At 11:43 PM, Blogger HB said...

"..so that when my head exploded, I wouldn't get incredulous brain matter all over the diamond and sapphires"

LOL! I can see myself asking my girlfriends father for permission. He'd probably look at me as if I was totally bonkers, and then my girlfriend would whack my head.

I've never even heard of anyone still doing this in Norway. My office mate has heard of *one* - and then it was meant as a joke. How common is it where you live?

 
At 5:30 PM, Blogger Andygrrl said...

It kind of depends on the company you keep; but among Nice, Normal Middle-Class folks, it's still often seen as romantic formality. Weddings, especially big traditional church productions, are so fetishized here it's disgusting. I couldn't help thinking to myself, "I wonder if he asked permission when they had sex, and when they moved in together." ARGH.

 
At 3:28 PM, Blogger Winter said...

ACK!

I know one person this happened to. She should have dumped him there and then.

 
At 2:38 PM, Blogger Sage said...

The whole ritual of marriage needs a serious revamping or obliterating. However, my sister's husband asked our dad permission only because he was 29 and she was 19. He didn't want to cause problems. He also asked permission to date her. He was my dad's colleague, and my sister was only 16 then. My dad said, "She can make up her own mind about that."

Then when they married, my sister was the first woman I knew of who refused to let my dad give her away. It was 1974.

 
At 5:07 PM, Blogger reasonably prudent poet said...

does "her husband helped her come out" include visions of that hot threesome he's always wanted? b/c, that's less than awesome.

 
At 1:53 PM, Blogger Andygrrl said...

RPP: from what I can tell, it's one of those cases where the husband is actually an encouragement and support to his wife's sexuality, instead of a hindrance. Whodathunk?

 
At 3:54 PM, Blogger belledame222 said...

I kind of like the idea of him calling up Pops every time he wanted to try something new ("and today, my darling husband got Daddy's permission for me to tie him up and use a strap-on on him!) but then, i am a sick fuck.

 

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