When Men Make Women Ugly

First off, I come from a different culture where married women are expected to be subservient to their husbands. My married friends are good reasons for me to conclude that husbands have a way of making their wives look ugly. When I see a middle-aged woman who looks like she hasn’t bathed nor even combed her hair, I immediately conclude that she must be married.  Women in our place have the tendency to take their looks for granted after marriage.  They gain weight, don’t use make-up and wear clothes that are simple and non-provocative. Reason?  They are married and there is no need for them to look beautiful.  What for? Doing otherwise would only court disaster.  The husband would start thinking ill thoughts, like what happens to one friend who could not even wear lipstick.  If her husband sees her putting some lipstick, he’d say she must be going to a “date.”  Another friend would arrive at the office looking like a mess—hair uncombed, face plain and without even a powder.  She’d start putting some lipstick and powder in the office, but erases everything when she goes home. Another friend would secretly buy a lipstick that does not show.  Still another friend could not even buy a blouse or a dress without first getting the approval of the husband.  The blouse or dress shouldn’t show any part of her body or else the husband will cut it up into pieces. When a friend enrolled at a gym, the husband started accusing her of having an affair with someone for why should she want to be thin and sexy? The jealous husband cut all her gym clothes as his way of telling her that her place is in the house and not in a gym. The husband, who belongs to a very strict religious group, also prohibits his wife from wearring earrings. His wife is his, says the husband.