The Kept Woman

In a situation when one of the partners is a bread winner but the other partner takes good care of the household and children we can talk about the division of work, even if people tend to underestimate house wives. What about the situation when one of the partners makes all the money and the other only uses it for pleasure, surrounded by an army of servants?

The Kept Woman (KW), as in most such cases the dependent in a relationship is still a woman, is an interesting phenomenon. I don’t know whether it’s because I was brought up by a single mother who always stressed the importance of independence or because the idea of self-reliance just agrees with my character but I don’t understand the situation in which one partner is permanently dependent on the other. It definitely requires a deep level of entitlement to feel that we deserve to enjoy our life when others work hard for our well-being.

What is more, as much fun as entertainment can be, it’s been proven that we use our time better when we have less of it. I’m sure you can relate – when we have a full day off we end up “doing” less of nice stuff than when we did when our time for it is limited. This leads me back to our topic – is the KW not bored? It’s amazing to eat out, shop and brainlessly watch TV but can you truly imagine doing it every day of your life? I may be wrong but it seems like a life of that sort is missing the sense of completion we have when we achieve our daily successes at work (or studies).

My other problem with KW is that she becomes completely helpless when her source of income disappears. After all, if one’s only value is beauty, the relationship with the person may be shallow and it’s quite easy to replace her with a prettier and possibly younger one. Unless, the man who’s clever enough to make buckets of money finds comparisons between gym classes and creams for wrinkles intellectually stimulating or the KW is an erudite pursuing her third PhD, he’s likely to get bored with her when the beauty passes.

Last but not least, we all have our special skills we should use in life. Some people are great doctors, some great bakers, but having passion in life and using whatever life skills we’re given is, in my opinion, the point of our existence. Of course, a KW surrounds herself with others of her type so it’s easier to kill the guilty feeling or simple unhappiness and emptiness she may be experiencing.

You’re probably wondering why I decided to write about the KW today and if maybe I’m experiencing PMS or am simply jealous of a friend who got married to a rich guy. But no, Dear Reader, honestly every time I hear a story of a grown up woman who’s being constantly paid for and has no ambition to change the situation or to do anything else in life than paint her nails, I cringe. For the suffragists did not suffer for us to now do the only thing which we were believed to be good at for centuries: nothing.