Funny then how I saw it regularly being lived out in front of my eyes when I was a kid and teenager, going round to the houses of my British (Scottish) friends - and how the male/female relationship of their parents, in terms of who was 'in charge', was markedly different from what I experienced at home?
What was it like in your house, in terms of that, when you were a kid: did your parents treat each other as equals, or did one like to think that they were 'the boss', and therefore made all or most of the decisions? For me also, although henpecked husbands were undoubtedly figures of fun in sitcoms, it also largely reflected real life. Like you say, if it had been the other way round, it wouldn't have been funny, so that's why it wasn't done. It wasn't that henpecked husbands weren't in fact a very real phenomenon!
In my job as a salesman, selling all sorts of stuff, over many years to couples living together, married or otherwise, if I'd earned a pound every time I made a sale, where quite clearly, the woman turned out to be the decision maker at home, I can tell you I'd be much richer than if I'd applied the same to the men!;)
It'd be interesting to hear Pigmy's take on this, as he'll be used to similar, when out selling PVC windows. doors and conservatories... And in his experience, who generally gets their own way more, the lady of the house or the man?
Anyway, I suspect we'll just have to agree to disagree on this, which is absolutely fine:)
Marco.