Article by Betty Cooper in this week's Belize Times...

As a Belizean woman, I have often wished I had the opportunity to speak up
for the "Belizean Man." I have often participated in women's discussions
concerning the lack of `Good Belizean Men'. We assume that there were going
to be some good Belizean men, but the Belizean mother to be, got mad at her
husband and broke the MOLD.
Well, Belizean men, here is a Belizean woman who will stand up for you, you
poor, maligned, misunderstood creatures. Whoever invented mirrors, did women
a big favor because we are responsible for the way our Belizean men consider
the way our Belizean women want to be treated. Guess who raised those little
Belizean boys, who turned them into the men we have today? Yes, it was all
of us mothers and grandmothers and the women before our time. We handed over
unrestrained devotion, our souls, our love, our identity, but most of all we
forgot that the word `No' existed, so we only knew the word `Yes'.

Can you remember putting a plate of food before our little man and
forgetting to take out the veggies he hated? What happened to the plate?
Didn't it end on the floor? Then we bent our knees and humped our backs to
clean it up after we handed him a new plate of food without the veggies. Do
you think he would have died of starvation without that one meal? Surely,
didn't we think he was too stupid that he could not clean up the mess he
created?

We have created the understanding, kind, generous, emotionally supportive,
faithful, and unselfish men we have today. Yes we did, be honest ladies. Why
must we complain so much? It's true that every now and again they need a
little attitude adjustment or a bit of titanium to hold up their spinal
column, so the size of their head would be supported and not obstruct the
revolving view they need in order to ogle something that would only look
good to them. Don't they have poor eyesight too? What's wrong with us
helping them to choose glasses when their eyes are not really telling their
brain the truth of what it sees? It's not their fault, and again I must say
that there is nothing wrong with Belizean men.

Why do we women like to ask why men think the way they do? Why shouldn't we?
We are not cloned in anyway, and we only needed one rib. They are men and we
are called women, totally different from each other. Remember the whole
world knows men are "It". They are supposed to be smarter than us humble,
weak, passive, clinging women, whose primary idea is to rush to the altar
hoping we can tame that tiger into a domestic cat, and make him forget all
his past pleasures.

We women are the only ones that get married. A man takes his wife and molds
her in a way to become a mother figure. He is the only one who remembers
that mothers were there to nurture him, get out of shape for nine months and
during that time look so unattractive she goes into retreat and prepares to
deal with the problems of being just one woman and needing four arms, and
getting by without sleep. And then prepare herself to start the process all
over again as the man's demand arises. Oh, and she better be a good
housekeeper, cook, accountant and nanny for the whole 24hr. day. That is a
woman's business. If a man should develop a slack muscle in the eyes, so
that while he is with his wife his eyes seems to be constantly crossed,
forgive him. It doesn't matter if you have to spend three hours waiting at
the beauty shop for a forty-minute hairdo, or pay a small price for a facial
treatment and the works, just so you would look like a new model for the
evening.

There is nothing wrong with our Belizean men. So what if he thinks he is the
weekend champ at the `No-Tell Motel Rodeo.' Or he may fancy himself at a
Friday night angler at some famous fishing hole. He may have lost his touch
not eating too well and his clothes seem to be hanging loose, so he is just
looking around for a little appetite enhancement. An understanding Belizean
woman must not be angry, she should just make sure he gets his eyes filled
and dines only at her restaurant. She must satisfy that heartily appetite by
piling his plate so heaping high and keep those refills coming so that he
will always wait with great anticipation for the next hot meal from her
kitchen.

We women complain Belizean men have a low hygiene. They leave shaving cream
and bits of hair not only on their side, but they invade yours as well and
take it over. You must be sure to pick up their clothes in the sequence in
which it was dropped on the floor, and put them in the clothes' hamper. It's
no big deal. He will not even notice, so you will not have to apologize for
moving his things from where he left them.

Remember when you said, "I do" in a loud, clear voice but under his breath
he said, "I don't." When he was pronounced husband and you were pronounced
wife, only it meant that he would get to keep his name and identity but the
Belizean woman gladly relinquished her identity, her soul and her right to
exist as an individual in exchange for that trinket encircling her finger.

A Belizean woman must be an asset to her husband, and that is why he has
chosen you, for your quick mind and well-rounded intelligence, your
deportment and classic ladylike qualities are assets to a man. Start reading
good educational books so your husband can use you as a sounding board and
when you open your mouth to address a subject even your husband will become
a captive audience. That is what will compliment the order of the Belizean
man and I will say it again, Belizean men are o.k. Your friends must meet
your level of mind enhancement and will no longer, when they meet you solo,
ask, "Where is your better half?" Then Mr. Belize's friends will meet him
and ask, "Where is your equal?"

Remember men will be mischievous. They are still boys in a bigger form. They
will watch sexy models/actresses on T.V. and then will compile notes with
their married friends at the parties at your house. They are doing what men
are supposed to do, what we let them do. Remember to reply with, "Make no
mistake buddy, anything you do we can do better" and they will know you have
arrived. I still think Belizean men are o.k.

The buck stops with us Belizean women, and I am only generalizing, because
there are some very honorable ladies, full of conviction and ambition and
the energy to go where they want to go and be the best they can. So this
part is for those that are still traveling. Imagine a Belizean woman having
the nerve to tell her husband she is going off on a month long vacation with
some friends, you bet the divorce papers would be ready for signatures when
she got back.

The charges would read, "Husband abandonment, and dereliction of wifely
duties" (he had to buy his own groceries and put the clothes in the wash,
and the bathroom stayed a mess). We did it. We created this `macho,' beef,
iron and wine man. Mr. Belize will present a good argument at the divorce
hearing. He may not even need to put out one aluminum cent to a lawyer. He
will plead his case, he will start from the beginning and will say, "Your
Honor, Mrs. Belize claims that I am smarter than she is, that I have cheated
her of my entire love but the way I see it, she has always had the upper
hand and the weapon to mold me and make me her endearing slave. She had all
the power to crack the whip and said jump, if that is what it took and I
would have asked, `How High?'

Thank you Belizean Woman for our Belizean Man!