Keep Feminine... Don't take out the trash.

[BelieveinScience]

So Jealous! Your gas is SOOO much cheaper too. For me its the touching the handle/germ thing. I try use a glove or a paper towel. I'm sure those handle have never been cleaned.

I think South Carolina tends to have cheap gas because its not taxed or something like that.

I don't think about the germ thing but the smell of the gas on your hands after you pump is awful! Maybe I do need a man to pump my gas!

[Dhani_C]

I will be sure to thank my boyfriend this weekend for protecting my femininity when he holds a door open for me. :roll:

[nomi]

So, they're tough enough to live off the grid or give birth on a toilet, but bringing the can to the curb will ruin them?? Um, OK. I personally have never pumped my own gas as I live in NJ buy in a pinch I could probably figure it out with no lasting side effects.

I was driving north on I-95, I think I was in VA or MD...close to DC, and there was this girl CRYING at the gas pump because she couldn't figure out how to pump her own gas (she was from NJ). :roll: I offered to help and she was about to hop back in her car when I pointed to what went where and what buttons to push and then went back to fueling my own car.

[alysee]

I was driving north on I-95, I think I was in VA or MD...close to DC, and there was this girl CRYING at the gas pump because she couldn't figure out how to pump her own gas (she was from NJ). :roll: I offered to help and she was about to hop back in her car when I pointed to what went where and what buttons to push and then went back to fueling my own car.

I will admit I have no idea how to pump my own gas. BUT! I don't drive, and don't have a license.....

[Third]

This is how I can get husband to take out the trash. Convince him he'll feel more like a man after doing it.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Mine takes out the trash but I mow the lawn. I actually REALLY like mowing the lawn.

[shesinsane]

The trash is smelly and needs to be taken out, the woman can do it but chooses to wait for/ask the man to do it. Jacque Dixon thinks that makes the woman look more feminine, I think it makes her look lazy.

[PennySycamore]

If I didn't take out the trash, it would never get taken out. I think my husband had his fill of trash duty as a kid. He is mowing the lawn though as I type.

Up from the pedestal!!

[EmmieJ]

Mine takes out the trash but I mow the lawn. I actually REALLY like mowing the lawn.

I like mowing the lawn too. Part is because I like the smell of fresh cut grass, and part is something to do with the symmetry of mowing in ever smaller squares until the last blade of grass is cut.

[SayNoToMullets]

I laugh at this for different reasons. I have no problems taking out the trash. I was the youngest kid in my family and after my three siblings left the house, I was put on trash duty and I never had issues with it. I live with my boyfriend now and he takes out the trash half of the time. Last year, he broke his leg and was on crutches for two months before getting a walking boot. He joked during that time, that breaking his leg got him out of certain chores. I guess fundie women who expect their husbands to take out the trash while on crutches.

That reminds me of how my now-former roomie laughs about when I was in a walking boot last year and I decided it was my turn to take out the trash. We didn't really have set turns for doing stuff, we just did it when we decided it needed to be done. Anyway, the boot was comical-looking on me to begin with; since I'm petite it was just a liiiiittle too big. Then, our dumpster is down a flight of stairs from us, and walking stairs in the boot was a challenge. Finally, add a giant bag of garbage to the mix. I saw it was full, I tied it, and just as I'm starting down the stairs she gets home and sees me hobbling down the stairs. She just stands there cracking up. For some reason she found this so amusing that she continued to bring it up for months afterward.

But hey, now I know. What we needed was a man in the house!

[Terrasola]

My first thought was of the lyrics from Shedaisy's "God Bless the Canadian Housewife",

"Look at how my diamonds seem to sparkle on the garbage can."

How can my tiara sparkle properly without the "silver" of the trash can to properly set it off :?:

I will say that Mr. Terrasola does some particularly lovely things for me. He makes dinner every night, perhaps out of self preservation. Once you have tasted my chunky-style mashed potatoes you might understand why. It doesn't seem to have affected his manly abilities to dive to the depths, jump out of planes, participate in pointless sweaty sporting events, propel around on zippo or whatever lines and yell like a banshee, and fix mechanical and electronic thingamabobs using a variety of gadgets.

He also fills my car up with gas to prevent me from getting migraines from the smell. I, in turn, pick up his dirty socks and rid the property of (non-poisonous) snakes which squick him out. I also do the laundry. Otherwise everything we own would be pink, and fuzzy.

[ADoyle90815]

If I didn't pump my own gas, it would never get done since I'm in one of those states that only has self service gas stations, and it's been that way most of my life, so I knew from childhood that pumping your own gas is part of driving. As for taking out the trash, it's something that's necessary when the cans are full, or they stink. Plus, if the big cans don't get out to the curb the night before trash day, the city isn't going to empty them. I have a can for trash, and a purple can for recycling, so I'm sure there are fundies who think my city is run by a bunch of hippies.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

We have this crazy system where whomever notices the trash/recycling needs taking out takes it out! Radical, I know. We each fill our own vehicle's gas tanks as well, but will fill each other's if we have traded vehicles for some reason.

I have issues opening jars (I have a really weak dominant hand from previous injuries) but that's why I have a little contraption that does it for me. I know every damn trick there is to breaking seals to get lids to come off anyway because the idea of being dependent on my big strong man to do it is gag-worthy. He does open the screw-off tops on beer bottles for me, though. :mrgreen: Those hurt my hand!

[Spider Burps]

I think South Carolina tends to have cheap gas because its not taxed or something like that.

I don't think about the germ thing but the smell of the gas on your hands after you pump is awful! Maybe I do need a man to pump my gas!

South Carolina's gas costs as much as NJ's gas, which costs a bit less than the DC metro area's gas (have gotten gas in all three places within days of one another in the last few months). South Carolina does, in fact, have a gas tax; Perhaps you're thinking of some other car-related tax (we keep our car registered in SC for the lower tax rates)? I don't get how gas costs the same amount in NJ as it does in self service states *fist shaking*

[CanadianHippie]

Once you have tasted my chunky-style mashed potatoes you might understand why.

Hey! Another person who makes chunky-style mashed potatoes! Do you do it on purpose or are you like me and just somehow manage to do it every single time no matter what?

[Kitty]

It doesn't seem to have affected his manly abilities to dive to the depths, jump out of planes, participate in pointless sweaty sporting events, propel around on zippo or whatever lines and yell like a banshee, and fix mechanical and electronic thingamabobs using a variety of gadgets.

That sound you hear is Dougie squeeing like a little fangirl.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I took out the trash and the recycling this week, and still managed to get my period. I guess I'm still feminine.

[mockingbird]

We have this crazy system where whomever notices the trash/recycling needs taking out takes it out! Radical, I know. We each fill our own vehicle's gas tanks as well, but will fill each other's if we have traded vehicles for some reason.

I have issues opening jars (I have a really weak dominant hand from previous injuries) but that's why I have a little contraption that does it for me. I know every damn trick there is to breaking seals to get lids to come off anyway because the idea of being dependent on my big strong man to do it is gag-worthy. He does open the screw-off tops on beer bottles for me, though. :mrgreen: Those hurt my hand!

Oooh please reveal the identity of your secret contraption! I cannot open jar lids and a lot of bottle tops. I'm always asking people (note: not only men) to open them for me, which gets tiring. I don't know why I can't, I've just never been physically able to do it.

I have issues with things like shoveling snow and carrying large, full trash bags because they are too heavy for me (I'm very petite). Otherwise, cool. I'm usually the one who kills bugs... I can pump my own gas too. I've only lived in places where it's self-service, unless you have the handicapped placard, then they will pump for you. Though, I'm tempted to hit up NJ on my road trip this summer so I can have someone pump for me. I'm lazy and that would be nice to experience. LOL I hope my future husband likes to cook because I can but I hate it.

[Shirley MacLaine]

I like how I'm supposed to give over these tasks to my headship to let him feel masculine and stuff, but no1curr if it's good for my self-esteem to fix the damn cabinets myself.

Although it would be kind of hilarious to call him over to my place just to take out the trash/open a jar/whatever.

[contrary]

seriously, people, come ON!

The little woman could easily be defrauded, pumping her own gas...think about it.

0h! Or, rather than defrauded, she could understand how...uh...insufficient her lordship's...uh...pump was.

[Cannelle]

Yesterday, I cut up a fetal pig in my bio class (I was the only one in my lab group who would touch it) while wearing a skirt and heels.

Does one cancel out the other? I need to know so I can accurately judge my femininity.

[nomi]

Yesterday, I cut up a fetal pig in my bio class (I was the only one in my lab group who would touch it) while wearing a skirt and heels.

Does one cancel out the other? I need to know so I can accurately judge my femininity.

I had to do the majority of the dissections in my BIO112 class. The only one that really got to me was the baby shark, and that was more because of the smell than anything.

[lilwriter85]

That reminds me of how my now-former roomie laughs about when I was in a walking boot last year and I decided it was my turn to take out the trash. We didn't really have set turns for doing stuff, we just did it when we decided it needed to be done. Anyway, the boot was comical-looking on me to begin with; since I'm petite it was just a liiiiittle too big. Then, our dumpster is down a flight of stairs from us, and walking stairs in the boot was a challenge. Finally, add a giant bag of garbage to the mix. I saw it was full, I tied it, and just as I'm starting down the stairs she gets home and sees me hobbling down the stairs. She just stands there cracking up. For some reason she found this so amusing that she continued to bring it up for months afterward.

But hey, now I know. What we needed was a man in the house!

I also used a walking boot about six years ago during one of the summer months. I had a bad ankle sprain and the boot also looked weird on me.

[Terrasola]

Hey! Another person who makes chunky-style mashed potatoes! Do you do it on purpose or are you like me and just somehow manage to do it every single time no matter what?

Sometimes one and sometimes the other. I really HATE cooking, especially now that I am a Celiac. DH could take a shoelace and an old boot and make a gourmet meal.

[samurai_sarah]

We have this crazy system where whomever notices the trash/recycling needs taking out takes it out! Radical, I know. We each fill our own vehicle's gas tanks as well, but will fill each other's if we have traded vehicles for some reason.

I have issues opening jars (I have a really weak dominant hand from previous injuries) but that's why I have a little contraption that does it for me. I know every damn trick there is to breaking seals to get lids to come off anyway because the idea of being dependent on my big strong man to do it is gag-worthy. He does open the screw-off tops on beer bottles for me, though. :mrgreen: Those hurt my hand!

Sheesh, you crazy, crazy kids! :D

We do the same thing with household chores, and fuelling the car has never been an issue. I can't remember seeing anything but self-service in Europe. Frankly, it never even occurred to me that something that seems so mundane to me, would be a gendered activity elsewhere. Can anyone explain why that is? Is there anything that's considered inherently "manly" about filling up a car? Or is it akin to those notions about "courtesey", comparable to holding the door open?