# Men-what are they good for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038 "2005-12-17T09:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/41 "2005-12-19T19:17:43Z")
You all forgot warmth. Mrs. Butler finds me a source of pre-heated blankets in the middle of the night. And someone to do all that “yucky stuff.” Provider of some genetic material in order for the women to use all their “internal bits”. Killer of creepy things, and remover of dead things. $$$ required to allow her to stay home and raise the Butlerette. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/42 "2005-12-19T19:22:40Z")
Being a young man myself, I’ll tell you fathers are great for slapping you upside the head with your stupidity when you’re too brash to admit it yourself. My mom would nudge me to let me know I was wrong. My dad would blatantly make sure I knew it. Dad understands that young men, like me, know everything so we’re convinced that we’re right. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/43 "2005-12-19T19:57:52Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Almost makes me wonder what kind of responses there’d be to a thread called ‘Women: what are they good for?’ Oh, I’m sure someone would feel compelled to pop in and start whining nasally “That’s not funny!” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/44 "2005-12-19T22:05:26Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > \Perhaps I find it kind of sad that we even have to try and list things that nearly half the world’s population is ‘good for’, I dunno. Yeah, I see your point there. We do a lot of mundane, pointless things in this forum, though, and I just see this thread as one of them. > [@](#): > > And then as expected (by me at least) we get the jokes like ‘Absolutely nothing.’ \ In all fairness, that _is_ the next line of the song the OP is riffing off of. I don’t think it’s particularly funny, either. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/45 "2005-12-19T23:36:58Z")
> [@Catsix](#): > > I guess I don’t see much praise in killing bugs and getting things off of shelves. It’s just got this tone to me that what men are good for is the shit work women don’t want to do themselves. Well, yeah, but the flip side of that is that if you asked my husband what _women_ are good for, he’d no doubt list some of the shit work that _he_ doesn’t want to do himself, but I don’t mind doing (like clipping coupons, putting away the groceries, etc.). I think it’s good, sometimes, to take a look at all the _little_ things we have to appreciate about each other. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/46 "2005-12-19T23:50:26Z")
Mine is really good at advanced math, which I totally suck at. Also very good for deep metaphysical discussions and religious arguments that would bore the hell out of me if they were with anyone else. He’s just fun to talk to. And he can calm me down no matter how upset I am and make me laugh no matter how angry I get. Despite arguments to the contrary, appreciation of men (or women, or people in general) doesn’t really have to be earth shattering, I don’t think. It’s the little things that stick with us. I’m highly fearful of spiders. So is he. The fact that he’s willing to work past his ick factor and smush one so I don’t have to goes a long way. Of course, that’s just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/47 "2005-12-20T11:29:56Z")
I know I’m resurrecting here, but **catsix** honey, you missed the point. I love me my husband, and when he is willing to risk life and limb with our awful neighbours to get them to turn down their music, after I have been kept awake by it all night, then he’s very useful to have around and I’m very grateful for him. Damn right I don’t want to knock on their door, the last time I did that my husband spent the next hour giving me a “I couldn’t handle it if something bad had happened to you” lecture as well as the joy of being threatened by a neighbour who was off their face on drugs. That’s why I waited for him to do it this time, and why I’m so grateful to him. I wanted to start a thread where people who have nice men in their lives can say nice things about them in particular…not about men in general, just about OUR men. I started this thread after one hour of sleep and with a migraine brewing, so I wasn’t really considering whether this would turn into anything other than a nice, light-hearted thread about how great men are. Apart from your posts, I don’t think it really did. If people want to make funnies that’s fine with me- **JT Thunder** , **twickster** , **Scumpup** etc, you make me laugh- because I don’t think you’re really man-hating cannibals and that it is possible to write a throwaway joke without actually meaning it. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038/48 "2005-12-20T18:21:35Z")
Honestly, most of the things I could say my man is “good for” (especially the spider-killing, jar-opening, reaching-up-high stuff), I can do myself, if I have to. There are a few things I can’t do for myself that he does, and that’s great - “man stuff” like building the new deck, installing the new flooring, etc. I appreciate those things, and I tell him so. But what he does that I need the most is: Loves me even with all my flaws Tolerates my frequent failure to deal with the “what’s for dinner” issue Helps me be disciplined about spending/saving Laughs at my silly attempts to make him laugh Hugs me and kisses me a lot Makes me smile Once in a while, spoils me rotten & treats me like his queen Expresses appreciation for all that I do to make our lives more comfortable Keeps me from being alone at night (which is when I can’t stand to be alone) That was a good exercise - better than dwelling on the little irritations! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-what-are-they-good-for/336038.md?page=2)