If you want to be controversial about relationships today, just say something with common sense. That's what blogger Amanda Lauren did when she wrote the following article about making a commitment to look good for her husband. While it was surprising to hear someone include that commitment in their marriage vows, I found her approach in her post quite reasonable, understanding, and wise! However, she got so much backlash that it warranted a Yahoo.com article about all the negative press she got!
Well, to credit her, and to share her wisdom (at a young age I might add), I have posted her article below. You can see the original here, as well as the comments, some of which may require a bath afterwards to clean off from your memory.
Staying Hot for My Husband is ESSENTIAL to a Successful Marriage
by Amanda Lauren
My husband
and I probably have a more traditional marriage than most millennials. If I'm
there when my husband gets home from work, I love to make him his favorite cocktail
(it's kind of Mad Men,
but it works for us). Sunday is my night to cook dinner. But one of the
most important things I do to make him happy is to be the woman of both his
fantasies and reality.
When we were married a few weeks ago in front of our families, friends and a Rabbi, I vowed to stay hot for my husband.
Before you label me anti-feminist or old-fashioned, please
understand that when I look good I feel more confident in myself. Feeling
good ultimately allows me to be
a better, happier and more considerate partner.
I see the look on my husband's face when I come out of the
bathroom, ready for a night out, or the way he checks out my butt on the way to
Pilates class. Having an
attractive wife makes him happy. They say "Happy wife, happy
life," but I'm happiest when my husband is happy.
According to April Masini,
a New York-based relationship and etiquette expert and author, it's incredibly
important for women to maintain their looks. She says, "There's no question
about it: men are visual — at all ages — and they want you to look attractive,
and they want their friends to be jealous."
If men can't help but be visual creatures, I need to oblige.
And while I'm not sure if his friends are jealous so to say, they do acknowledge he
has a hot wife.
While I'm aware you can't deny the inevitable process of
aging, both Masini and I agree that being young and being attractive aren't
mutually exclusive.
"You can find beauty in convention or you can find
beauty in creation. People age and the way they look in a bikini changes. But
the way they conduct themselves, carry themselves and comport themselves can
create a sizzle hotter than a thong," she says. It's all about working
with what you have.
Some of the most attractive women in Hollywood aren't in
their 20s. Take Julianne Moore,
for example. She's 55 and one of the prettiest women on the planet. I
actually think she looks better as she ages. Helen Mirren is 70
years old and still pretty hot.
If you've watched Grace
and Frankie, you've seen how great Jane Fonda
looks. The woman is nearly 80 years old! And it's not just actresses. Gloria Steinem, of all
women, is also 80 and in better shape than many women a quarter of her age.
I've always wondered why so many women
let themselves go in relationships. When I was single, I spent so much time and energy
trying to look pretty. While it's now nice to know I can go to the supermarket
and gym without makeup, when I accompany my husband somewhere, it's a different
story.
I know that when you get married — and especially when
you have kids — your priorities change and you only have so much time for
yourself. Plus, not every woman looks like Kim Kardashian when she
gets out of bed in the morning (myself included), but we can all try to look
our best.
It's not even about having a face full of makeup, frizzless
hair, or meeting society's standards — it's about meeting your own.
Masini sees looking good and feeling good as a cycle: "You become what you
are (and you are what you become), so the more you work at looking hot, the hotter
you'll feel."
Frankly, even if you don't have a partner, we all feel
better when we look good. Making ourselves look better on the outside can
affect how we feel on the inside.
The decline of your physical appearance can also reflect
your relationship. You stop caring. According to Masini, "You let yourself
go, it's not just about what you look like on the outside — you've let the
sizzle fizzle and the spark cool."
Everyone knows what they need
to do to make their partner happy. If you're attentive to your
partner's wants and needs, then they will be attentive to yours. Everyone has
24 hours a day, and while I personally can't vacuum and apply eyeliner at the
same time, my husband understands why a $400 iRobot Roomba does more than just
vacuum.
It's impossible to meet every single one of your partner's
needs all of the time, but if you stop trying then you aren't holding up
your end of the relationship. And all of that starts to trickle down to the one
thing every relationship needs, which is sex.
While sex can't make a marriage, it can break it. Having
that physical, intimate connection is very important. Sex should be mutually
enjoyable for both parties. You should want to
have sex with your partner. And if my husband wasn't turned on by me,
we couldn't have that essential intimacy.
So while my vow to stay hot seems superficial, it really isn't.
All relationships require work, and working on myself is
doing the work I need to do for the sake of my relationship. Even if I'm
running 15 minutes behind on date night because my hair isn't straightening, my
husband can't complain if he's swooning over me.
