This is gonna cover four generations, so will try to keep it brief. There's definitely a pattern. My grandmother had four kids, my mother the eldest, followed by three boys. My mother got married and provided her with grandkids. From this point onwards, she attempted to destroy the confidence of my uncles with women. I witnessed some of it. She had four men working for her, my grandfather and three uncles. This gave her a phenomenal standard of living for a working class woman. In a domain which was owned (a rarity in the 1950s) she could sit on her leather armchair and dispense her orders, including being chauffeured around in large, powerful cars (Ford Pilot V8, Humber Super Snipe). No wonder my uncles' girlfriends were given short shrift. ("Don't bring that woman back to this house!") Those men married later in life, the youngest only after my grandmother was dead.

My mother had two kids initially - my elder brother and sister. Things weren't great for dad. He worked hard to support his family, handed over his wages, but couldn't spend his pittance of pocket money as he pleased. In particular, he 'wasn't allowed' to go to town on a Saturday, to meet up with his old friends. He thought this was unreasonable. When he disobeyed, he'd return home to a slapping. One night, he returned the compliment. He got 28 days in jail, lost his job, and became a pariah in the village. With nothing left to lose, he told her he was leaving her. She could get a job and bring up my brother (aged 13) and my sister (aged 11) by herself. Suddenly, mum was full of remorse for my father's month in jail. And she must have forgotten something. This is where I make an unexpected entrance as a ball & chain to make sure he couldn't leave. What sort of heartless brute would abandon a pregnant wife..?

Most of my time from ages 17 to 24 had been taken up with studying, in the city. Parents knew little about my personal life (nor did they seem particularly interested). Since my brother and sister had provided mum with grandkids long ago, I didn't know that she now had plans for me to become a captive bachelor. When I brought home an attractive woman, someone I knew was unique, was puzzled by the reception. "That woman will break your heart!" The life of my uncles was repeating itself. Well, I didn't listen to the browbeating, and married her anyway. My youngest uncle told me, in confidence, that he wished he'd done the same... that he should have defied his mother's edicts.

Been married 44 years now. Two boys, now middle aged men. They haven't had a happy life. The elder was with an attractive girl for eight years. They were buying a house together. But, as soon as he signed on the dotted line, he wasn't allowed to see his friends any longer. They couldn't afford it. What she was doing was actually financial abuse, but it's a long story. He was allowed out to work, and that's about it. The life of my old man was repeating itself. Eventually, in his mid-20s, he left her, and the house which meant so much to her. Didn't take a penny of the equity.

Our younger lad, seeing the unhappy life of his brother, kept women at arm's length, with the aid of weed. How does the song by Afroman go...? "I was gonna make love to you, but then I got high." He's been cutting back, and the urges are returning. You're gonna get a lot of baggage by this stage in life, and a woman with four kids, two different fathers, has her claws in. Looks like a blended family is what I'm gonna get.

What am I trying to say..? Men are always in a cage, supporting women. We're allowed out to work, for their benefit. At all other times, they're keeping a close eye on us. Men are born free, but are everywhere in chains, courtesy of our sex drive. That's bad enough. But, some women, my own mother and grandmother included, thought that, once they'd been provided with grandkids, the role of younger males was to keep them in comfort for the rest of their lives, with not a thought for the chaste and empty existence that would impose upon those men.

Two related thoughts. (1) The domestic violence imposed upon my father was a form of mate-guarding. https://stevemoxon.co.uk/how-and-why-partner-violence-is-normal-female-behaviour-but-aberrational-male-behaviour/

(2) Some women are indiscreet enough to express how they really feel about us. The block capitals of 'SERVE' are those of Ms Milburn. It's obviously important. https://wiki4men.com/wiki/Krista_Leighanne_Milburn