‘Happy wife, happy life’ feels like the biggest propaganda campaign wives have ever devised to get their husbands in-line and the phrase is just so damn catchy it gets tattooed in your psyche the moment you hear it, but should you believe it? Is it just a cliché, and who the heck should I blame for creating it!
Who should guys blame for the ‘happy wife, happy life’
The origins of ‘happy wife, happy life’ have eluded etymologist for decades making it near impossible to pinpoint its origins but etymologists have agreed on a general consensus that this most likely originated from the etymologist’s wife, my wife, that guy’s wife, your friend’s first wife and second wife, that couple you know that has been together for so long his girlfriend might as well be his wife, and if you’re a husband reading this article, your wife.
But historically the earliest record of the ‘happy wife, happy life’ to be published in any form of media dates back to the 22nd of October 1903 when the British newspaper, ‘Sunderland Daily Echo & Shipping Gazette’ published a short poem titled ‘The Work and Wages Party’.
“I’m a work and wages party man,
I say that’s what I am.
You’ll find me true and hearty, man,
For that is what I am.
Now, let’s rejoice to end the strife,
With all the kids in clover,
A happy wife, a happy life,”The British Newspaper Archive: 22 October 1903, Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette
Decades after ‘The Work and Wages Party’ was first published, ‘happy wife, happy life’ still resonates in our modern society but is it really the dogma of how a husband’s life can be happy in our modern society?
Should you believe it or is it really just a cliché?
In today’s modern society, the ‘happy wife, happy life’ has been popularized more than ever in mainstream media by comedians and writers that churned out numerous books, videos, shows, and countless memes that made it the butt of all jokes securing its place in pop culture.
These sensorial bombardments from mainstream media and our adherence to pop culture either made people firm believers that advocate happiness is at the end of your wife’s smile or naysayers that say it’s just a cliché and it’s not worth anyone’s salt.
This divide in people’s beliefs, has fueled countless arguments in our modern society of empowered women arguing that the phrase is a sexist archetype and misogynistic that implies women are stereotypical and entitled, but is it really that demeaning?
There are people that feel strongly about this and it might or it does hold a candle for some, but in 2014, a joint study between Rutgers University and the University of Michigan found that scientifically a happy wife does mean a happy life for their husbands.
‘Happy wife, happy life’ is scientifically proven to be true
Co-authors, Deborah Carr Ph.D. of Rutgers University and Vicki A. Freedman Ph.D. of the University of Michigan in their 2014 published study Happy Marriage, Happy Life? Marital Quality and Subjective Well-Being in Later Life published in the Journal of Marriage and Family (Volume 76, Issue 5, Page 930–948) on the 2nd of September 2014.
After analyzing the long-term survey of 18,000 individuals or approximately 5,000 American families from 1968 till 2009 the co-authors concluded that ‘we found that the strength of association between a man’s marital quality assessment and his life satisfaction is contingent on his wife’s marital appraisals.’
In layman’s terms, ‘happy wife, happy life’.
But even with this study proving the direct correlation between a husband’s quality of life and his wife’s happiness, as catchy as it maybe this is not the cure-all answer because every marriage is different and there will always be outliers that should be taken into account especially for relationships because it will differ greatly from one couple to another.
Is ‘happy wife, happy life’ right for your relationship?
It’s the million-dollar question, will this be my relationship’s salvation or the medium that will instigate my enslavement, is it really just a myth, or is it the gospel that can exorcise the devil from within.
I can only speak for myself and my experience about it, you have to assess your self if this is really the right fit for your relationship but if you ask me and my wife about it, my knee jerk reaction to that question would be a resounding ‘YES it is the bible I live by’ with a resonating echo surrounding it, but during boys’ night…
Let’s just say it’s still a yes.
Originally published by Dan Cortez on Bunny Gazette Link: https://bunnygazette.com/happy-wife-happy-life-should-you-believe-it-you-probably-should/
