Desperation

From Desperate Housewives Season Two, Episode 12 "We Will Be All Right":

Lynette: "Hey."
Tom: "Hey."
Lynette:You're not limping. Did everything go okay?"
Tom: "I couldn't do it."
Lynette: "What happened?"
Tom: "I don't know. I got there, I, I put on the paper gown and I, uh, I just couldn't do it."
Lynette: "Why not?"
Tom: "It felt like I was being emasculated."
Lynette: "Oh, please."
Tom: "I'm serious, Lynette. I don't make the money around here anymore. I don't provide for you and the kids. And I wasn't gonna let them snip out the last thing that makes me a man."
Lynette: "Staying home and taking care of the kids doesn't make you less of a man. That's crazy."
Tom: "You expect me to calm your irrational fears. I expect you to calm mine."
Lynette: "Are you saying you're unhappy?"
Tom: "A little bit, yeah."
Lynette: "Well, what we gonna do about that?"
Tom: "I don't know."
Lynette: "Well, can’t we just-?"
Tom: "No, Lynette. I don't know."


The world today is moving fast. Gender roles are being exchanged. Women are more prominent in the workplace. Men are house husbands. These changes among others are creating new complications in once old-fashioned, conventional relationships.

Throw in requiring a vasectomy, or the equivalent for a female, and this makes matters even harder to disentangle. Undergoing a surgery is serious and expensive, thus it is a long term commitment. Square and Circle are making a major decision and it can be quite traumatizing, as seen by Tom Scavo's refusal from Desperate Housewives.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I am not sure that I have ever been quite so alarmed while reading a book. As D-503 describes the One State more and more, this feeling of disgust rises within me. It is very strange as I am generally quite open-minded and even if I do not agree with something, I can usually understand where a person is coming from. I do understand somewhat of where the idea of the One State comes from and what would motivate people to create such a place, but perhaps it is the fact that it is an entire society on lock-down that bothers me. The way that the One State is governed is now widely accepted, but I am sure that when it was first formed, the ideas were only supported by a minority.

The book draws you into the One State so well, making it seem plausible that is the future for the Earth, which just makes it even more upsetting as it is something I refuse to accept for the future. Such concepts as only two hours of free time per day and only 15 minutes of intimate time with someone you are "registered to" just seems to go against all that I believe in and enjoy.

In any case, I suppose it is a good thing that I am so personally disturbed by this book as that is likely what the author intended, meaning she did her job quite well. It is just so hard for me to imagine eliminating anything from my life that was purely aesthetic or frivolous as they can sometimes be the most enjoyable aspects of life and save us from the monotony and stress of every day life.