There is no door separating the bedroom from the living room in my 60-square-metre apartment, where my husband, Mark, and I have spent the past year together. It’s not like we were having problems qua problems when I picked up a hardcover copy of the 1992 self-help bestseller Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships, by John Gray, Ph.D., but after a year of quarantine, we weren’t exactly in any position to be turning down marital advice in any form. Not to mention, Mark had recently started saying “Cool, cool, cool” every time one of his co-workers asked him to do anything, a habit I loathe. I don’t want to kill him, but I don’t not want to kill him. I’m sure he feels the same way about me.
I viewed it as an ironic little joint reading project, and Mark was game. Besides, it was Covid—what else were we doing? We could even commit to the bit and order a fondue set and some royal-blue wine glasses to drink pinot noir out of like it was really the ’90s. In other words, we could pretend we were our parents, who seemed to have had it all so together at our age.
Some version of them, anyway. If I was being honest with myself, the project was more than ironic. My suspicion was that advice for a happy marriage hadn’t changed much in 30 years. This might have been a comforting thought for some, but for me, it was a little menacing: my parents ended up divorcing, and not amicably. My hope was that I’d read the terrible advice they’d gotten and be able to confirm something: of course, they split! With advice like this? They were doomed!
Denne historien er fra Summer 2021-utgaven av Esquire Singapore.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2021-utgaven av Esquire Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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THE MILD HANGOVER
Hangovers get a bad rap. We know. If you’ve gotten this far in the magazine, you’ve surely divined that we’re mildly hungover most of the time.
AN ELECTRIC FUTURE
Polestar, the minimalist electric Swedish car brand, turns the voltage up on its competition.
LET'S GET REAL (ESTATE): LUXURIOUS LONDON
Royalty, shopping, the best tea and scones the world has to offer, and a lifestyle worthy of what you're working for. Here's why London is ripe for your next investment
NEXT UP....ZARAN VACHHA
As Co-founder of the events and talent agency Collective Minds and Managing Director of the Mandala Masters, Zaran Vachha is definitely not new to the culture scene, but he's certainly shaping what comes next.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED...
I DON’T WEAR SOCKS except in January.
The Body Is a Language
A bad handshake is such a turnoff; we feel irked when someone rolls their eyes at us; we can't stop pacing when we're nervous-ever wondered how certain body language has the power to change how we feel instantly? We explore why.
EYE OF THE TIGER
Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.
THE ADONIS COMPLEX
With the rise of superhero culture making a return and bringing with it the celebration of the classically ‘masculine’ body type, can men really overcome the pressure to conform when culture keeps getting in the way?
FUNNY BUT TRUE
A comedian, an iconic Singaporean, and now a man much evolved. After overcoming two years of pandemic limbo, unlocking career milestones one after another and undergoing a life-defining physical transformation, Rishi Budhrani is ready to emerge into the world renewed-and anew.
LIKE NO OTHER
With its horological triumphs, Hermès has truly come into its own as a watchmaking maison. In this exclusive interview with Esquire Singapore, CEO of Hermès Horloger, Laurent Dordet sheds some light on his timepieces' rising stardom and the importance of being different.
