“Is this all?”

Photo by Mysi

Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night — she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — “Is this all?”

— Betty Friedan (The Feminine Mystique)

Since then, millions of women have entered the workforce. I wonder if they’ve discovered what millions of men have known for centuries:

Each working husband struggles with this alone. As he made his sales quota, shopped for office supplies, matched the new brochure to the corporate colors, ate lunch with his co-workers, chauffeured Clients and VPs, sits at his desk at day’s end — he was afraid to ask even of himself the silent question — “Is this all?”

— John Tabita (The Masculine Mystique)*

* Not a real book