The other day, I looked over at my eleven-year-old daughter sitting on the couch and had the unsettling realization that one day she'll get married.
Even worse, it could be to a total douchebag. And while I can't prevent her from dating a string of undeserving boys in the coming years, I hope to give her a few tips to help her figure out which ones not to marry when she's ready.
1. Any Guy Who Doesn't Own At Least One Suit
The recommendation here is not to go out and marry some businessman or corporate killer with a closet full of Hugo Boss. Instead, just avoid any grown ass man who makes a point of not owning a single suit of any quality, because not owning a single suit takes effort. It's something you eventually can't avoid owning unless you're trying to. For some damn reason.
Life happens to you. You graduate. Friends get married. You interview for certain jobs. Loved ones die. I don't care how hip and laid back you are, life still has numerous occasions where you need to kick off your floppy hat and Birkenstocks and put on a damn suit. A good marriage takes maturity and flexibility, and I can assure you some dude holding fast to some stupid abstraction like avoiding suits because it means he's a free spirit will hold fast to all sorts of unnecessary personal battles.
2. Any Guy Who Absolutely Loves Forrest Gump
You can tell a lot about a man who worships this 1994 Tom Hanks film about a simple man who knows what love is. Forrest Gump is swell, but people who think it's the greatest are, in a phrase, painfully easy to please. For them, the best beer is Budweiser. The best sex is missionary. The best vacation includes at least one water park. They are people of simple tastes and if you asked them to explain why Forrest Gump is the best movie ever made, they'll give a list of GIFs. If the deepest metaphor you ever heard is, "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get," then your standards are also like a box of chocolates: square and likely sickeningly sweet. How would you know a guy like that even loves you for you? He probably thinks anything with two breasts and a vagina is fantastic.
3. Any Guy Who Is Hung Up About Performing Oral Sex
I hope I have the guts to have this conversation when the time is right. (Some time in my daughter's late 30s). It always shocks me how many men feel not performing oral sex is an option. Even as a sexually-retarded junior high school boy watching 80s porn, I saw every single guy go down on every single woman. That was just the deal. Trading oral sex before engaging in all manner of penetration. If even a bunch of cheesy, mullet-wearing, mustached dudes know you're supposed to orally please your partner, how are so many men out there missing that message?
"But what if I don't know what I'm doing and I'm scared?" asks a man, probably driving a very large and expensive car. Well, then that's significant, too. Performing sexual acts you're uncertain of can be intimidating, but if your dude is letting his own fears shut down something you want rather than talking about that fear, that's going to affect the relationship in non-sexual ways too. Any man who can't or won't modify his sexual behavior to address your needs will likely refuse to modify his behavior in other ways—whether that's work schedules, parenting issues, or remembering to take out the recycling. (I mean that literally. "Taking out the recycling" is not a sexual euphemism.) The point is sexual flexibility is a sign of respect.
4. Any Guy Who Hasn't Read A Book Since High School
Not everyone's a reader, and I wouldn't advise my daughter to marry only English majors, but I would tell her to avoid any guy who's running from books because it reveals a deep lack of curiosity. I'm not saying it has to be high literature. I'm not even saying it has to be fiction. I'm talking about any book. Even my book!
Cutting yourself off from an entire form of learning, enjoyment, and experience is a form of arrogance. Anthony Hopkins once said he based his T.V. portrayal of Hitler on a quote that Hitler had a huge personal library he never read because his mind was made up. I'm not saying anyone who doesn't read books is Hitler, but you don't want to marry a man who is so uncurious or arrogant to believe he's got nothing to learn. Convictions like that don't end with books. Also, don't marry Hitler.
5. Any Guy Who Can't Laugh At Himself
If your partner can't be teased, you're going to have an awful lot of work to do. You can tell a lot about a man who laughs at himself and all the things you can tell are good. Marriages are filled with compromising positions and fuck ups and you need someone who can fess up with a chuckle when he gets busted masturbating to that episode of Thundercats where Cheetara does that thing with the thing. (Purely hypothetical example).
Laughing at yourself also takes trust. The people who love you most should be able to point out your foibles. And if they're doing it with humor, odds are they care about doing it in a gentle way. There is a huge difference between gentle teasing and vicious sarcasm. There is a difference between being critical with love and being critical to destroy. And that's the whole point. Someone who can never laugh at himself doesn't trust the person they're with can criticize them while still loving them and wanting the best. And that is a recipe for disaster.