Sunday, May 8, 2011

Definition: Generation Gap

I have now, just now, like, just right now at some god-awful hour of the early am when neither my darling husband or I can sleep, learned what a generation gap actually is.

I just learned that Grace Kelly's family (yes, that Grace Kelly) paid her soon-to-be husband, Prince Ranier Grimaldi (yes, he is that kind of a prince) a $2 million DOWRY to take her hand in marriage, and I was HORRIFIED.

My darling husband actually already knew this fascinating little factoid and considered it totally unremarkable.

That, my dear friends, is a generation gap!!

And for those of you who have never before needed to know, a dowry, or "bride price," is a sum of cash, goods, textiles, land, livestock, or some combination thereof that is paid by the father/family of the bride to the groom/family of the groom in return for his marrying their daughter. This all goes back to the women as property/chattel concept, which is, of course, still in full effect in way too many parts of the world.

Grace Kelly.
How many men, then or now, would happily fork over $2M for the honor of marrying her, instead of it being the other way around? Hmm??? I think HRH Grimaldi was damned lucky that the Kellys were frigging gullible as all hell. Whoever told Princess Grace (and has any woman had a more fitting name?!) that she needed to pay someone to marry her deserves a spanking.

At least. Sheesh!

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