It’s just…well…her mom was one of the original feminists. Kyle wondered from the day he met Peggy’s family how that philosophy coexisted with the practical realities of a long marriage to a successful businessman. They’d had five children too. Kyle didn’t know how that fit in with Denise’s agenda.
Early in his marriage, Kyle had summoned the courage to ask Dan, his new father-in-law, about it and he told Kyle quite candidly that he ignored most of what Kyle’s mother-in-law said when he heard her using the movement’s odd mantras. He said he reverted to a 19th century philosophy of allowing the woman to run matters relating to the household and let her have sway over all that virtually without comment.
Outside of that, he said they made compromises and agreements or Denise was invited to pack her bags and leave. Kyle was impressed. He also wondered if Denise appreciated the irony of her husband’s way of dealing with her political beliefs…or if she knew.
Once or twice, in her role as mother-in-law, Denise said some hurtful and antagonistic things about males in general and Kyle in particular at the dinner table. Dan jumped in and told Denise in no uncertain terms that what she was saying was highly inappropriate and that it needed to cease. Denise’s eyes got a little vacant, as if she were going over what she had said, or perhaps she was consulting a reference library that told her what was and was not appropriate commentary according to an agreement of some kind. Each time, Denise apologized to Kyle and the incident passed.
Anyway, Peggy inherited from her mother an attitude that bordered on intolerance for men’s foibles and idiosyncrasies. It persisted well into a marriage that produced two wonderful children but it caused their marriage to be a rocky one from time to time. She always came back to Kyle though–almost returning to the woman she’d been when he married her. Lately though, it had taken longer for them to work past the disagreements.
She was intensely competitive too. For instance, though she was slight of stature, it infuriated her when Kyle could easily open a pickle jar she’d wrestled with all day long. In short, she tolerated no differences between herself as a representative of the female portion of the race and Kyle as an unwilling rep for the male half. Sometimes it meant she had to watch a sporting event she really didn’t want to, and Kyle had to watch “Steel Magnolias” or something in that vein when it struck Peggy’s fancy.
The last time they’d watched that movie, Kyle hadn’t been able to fight off his boredom and lack of interest. His snoring finally made it impossible for Peggy to continue watching the movie and she woke him up. After a few sharp comments, she’d flounced off to bed. She’d suggested he sleep on the couch instead of joining her. Sleepy and quite comfortable where he was, Kyle had nodded and stretched out. He’d drifted off again before his wife got upstairs. She hadn’t given up ragging on him for that for a long while, but she hadn’t made him watch the movie again either.