In the 19th century, stern patriarchs used to warn their daughters not to indulge in anything but the lightest of reading matter lest their fragile little brains overheat, but now teachers want to ditch the classics in favour of light writing bites because boys – bless! – are “intimidated” by big books. “Boys are not as good as girls at sitting and listening,” explained the children’s author Frank Cottrell Boyce. Well, maybe as they’re meant to be at SCHOOL, and not at a ROLLER-DISCO, they might just be told to LIKE IT OR LUMP IT. Just a thought!
I’ve never suffered from PMT, but I do support the state of Israel, so I find I spend a lot of my time crying, lashing out violently and screeching “You don’t understand!” at my husband. I do understand what sufferers go through. But I don’t WANT to be like that, and I don’t see why anyone else would think it was something to aim for. Come back, the strong and silent male stereotype – continent, stoic, buck-stopping – all is forgiven!
