This was in yesterday's Observer: Double income no idea, apparently

Welcome to two-income family life. He works, I work, and baby is taken care of by nanny and granny. It's the only way to afford a nice lifestyle. It is also a recipe for divorce, according to the latest marriage manual from America. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr Laura Schlessinger urges that a wife should be flirtatious, wear a negligee, and always appear gagging for it. That's the bedroom routine. Elsewhere, she is to bake cookies, listen to his woes and never 'bitch'.

Oh how times have changed from this 1950s advice on how to be a good housewife:

HAVE DINNER READY: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal--on time. This is a way to let him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned with his needs.

PREPARE YOURSELF: Take fifteen minutes to rest so that you will be refreshed when he arrives. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay* and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift. Greet him with a smile.

SOME "DO NOT'S": Don't greet him with problems and complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as a minor problem compared to what he might have gone through that day.

*given this is a 1950s handbook, I don't think they meant "les up with your best mate".

I find it utterly implausible that this reactionary rubbish not only gets printed but sells. It's all one with rubbish like The Rules (on how to catch a husband) and the fact that so much of pulpy culture is about finding that one true love, that perfect blissful wedding.

I know people who are getting married. I know married people. I get that other people like that state of being. Yet not one of my married/partnered friends acts subserviantly towards their male partners. And they all seem to do just fine. This reactionary bollocks - the just keep quiet dear claptrap (to be said in a Micahel Winner voice, obviously) - pisses me off more than anything else. No, you are equal. You have rights. If you chap has any brains whatsoever he doesn't want you simpering in a bit of lace and serving up meals with a smile. If he does, ditch him.