I agree that they are for women and kids. I work in a largely male environment and birthdays don’t come into play. Once a guy did expect to get out of being assigned a particular task involving travel because it was his birthday, but his request was met with derision.
Birthdays are for kids? No silly, trix are for kids! Birthdays are great fun for everyone, as long as they’re not celebrated against the person’s will. What I’m trying to say is that spending one day a year to celebrate the awesomeness that is insert name here is most decidedly not childish. Children make the biggest deal of it, but I must say the activity itself isn’t by a long shot. And, just because children do it doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing~
Historically birthdays were only celebrated for male heads of household and kings and such. It’s interesting to see that so many people still lump women and children into a category as less-than-men, but now we humor them with birthday celebrations while the menfolks get on with the real work. Or at least that’s the vibe I’m getting from some posters.
Different != less-than.
My family celebrates with cake, presents, and a birthday dinner, but within immediate family only- we don’t do parties. While I enjoy celebrating my parents’, siblings’, and husband’s birthdays, I have no interest in celebrating with my coworkers, so I try to avoid them by taking the day off.
I can’t speak to the women/children only idea, as I know my father and husband would be disappointed if we skipped their birthdays. My brother probably wouldn’t care as much.
I must be reading a different thread! Less-than-men?
And who is this “we” doing all the humoring?
I think it was Dave Barry who said:
“after a certain age, birthday parties are a pain. That age is 11”
My entire family does not believe in birthday parties. I’ve never had a birthday party. My parents don’t get birthday parties. My brother and sister-in-law don’t have birthday parties. Unsquare Dude doesn’t have parties. We usually just have dinner, I get a card or two in the mail, and then it’s done. I don’t know, I have no desire to make a big deal out of my birthday. I don’t tell my friends when it is, either. My mom’s birthday is two days after Christmas, so she doesn’t make a big deal out of it. My dad’s and brother’s are a week apart, but we still don’t do anything for them.
OTOH, my aunt and uncle are huge on birthday parties. They have four kids, those four kids have kids, and they all get parties. My uncle still gets birthday parties, and he’s pushing 60. These aren’t dinner-and-cake parties, either. These are rent-out-the-civic-center-ballroom parties.
I think it just depends on the person/family/friends involved. Has nothing to do with gender or age.
I definitely do not want a big deal of my birthday at work. There’s nothing worse that coming into work and finding your desk looking like an party superstore exploded. I could also do without cake at work.
At home, I usually just prefer to go out to dinner or lunch with some friends. I want nothing to do with that stupid singing and I prefer only to have a slice of cake. I don’t really like sweets that much so one piece of cake is enough to last a year for me.
This isn’t an issue of “less than men”, it’s simply a fact that men on average in western society are not as engaged or focused re initiating personal celebrations and coordinating family/group social get togethers as women are. This doesn’t make them “better”, in fact it could be argued it makes them worse as strengthening and reinforcing familial and social bonds is critical to the relationships that make up a healthy society.
Based on the responses in this thread so far it also appears there are a number of women (doper women at least) who ascribe to the notion that birthdays are for kids, and various doper men who LOVE birthdays so whether mainly mediated by women or not preferences vary…
Thanks ;). 41 - woohoo! Time for that colonoscopy :p!
Sounds about right to me. I haven’t gotten anything more than a ‘Oh, it’s your birthday isn’t it?’ in years.
Yeah, it’s today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 
You’re right, and that’s refreshing.
I know both men and women who do and do not want their birthdays celebrated.
The men who do, want a party for everybody. The women who do want a day that is all about them.
MHE, anyway.
I agree that birthdays are for kids. This year on my birthday (a Sunday) I worked for five hours then cleaned the house.
Also, as a kid I thought New Years was a huge deal (it’s a whole 'nother YEAR man, WOW!). Now I’m pretty meh about the whole thing. Same thing with birthdays–just another day.
This is one reason why it’s fun to have kids of your own–you get to be a kid again in some respects.
An almost 44 year old female here. I have never liked a big deal made out of my birthday. Even when I was a kid.
A cake, and a few presents at home, and a few birthday wishes from friends was fine.
Now I just like to have a nice dinner with my hubby and son.
I like to remember all birthday’s with a card, and greeting, for family members and friends. But the only time I make a big deal of a birthday is for kids, or if it a speical birthday, 21, 30th, 40th etc.
Our family has parties now and then for the milestone birthday’s. But usually the parties are for kids.
I love birthdays. I make a big deal out of my own and also my SO and good friends.
One of my best girlfriends turned 33 last month, and in celebration revived the gradeschool “slumber party.” Her husband had a night out with friends, so it was girls only, and we all headed to her house wearing PJ’s, armed with gifts and alcohol…ordered pizza, played board games, sat out on the back porch and talked for hours…it was a fun safe way to get drunk with girlfriends and catch up and get silly.
For my 30th birthday last year, I rented a pontoon boat and took all of my friends (plus mom, brother, and SO) out on the lake. We all agreed that that was one of the best ways to celebrate a birthday.
If nothing like that goes down, at the very least a dinner out with friends is a must; gifts are fun but not required or expected.
I think birthdays are an excellent excuse to get everybody together to have a good time and catch up. If somebody doesn’t want to make a “big deal” out of their birthday, that’s up to them and I’d respect that, but honestly I don’t see what isn’t fun about spoiling yourself once a year.
Our whole family does birthdays big. Well, not the rent-out-the-civic-center big, but definitely a special dinner, cake, presents – sometimes even surprise birthday parties with every friend I can scrape up.
However, the exception is my birthday. It’s Christmas Day. Teh evil of birthdates.
Definitely in the women-and-kids-only camp. I’ve previously forgotten when my birthday was (yeah, really - I had to work it out by remembering my Date of Birth).
The last time I was given a birthday present was the last time I had a birthday party. It was because I’d turned ten.
I’ll quite happily attend a birthday dinner for other guys I know, but they’ll invariably have been organised by the women in their life. I’d think it kind of creepy if a guys organised his own.