Perpetual Stereotypes

(Pro 19:13 KJV)  A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

Two different classes of people are mentioned here.  In generic terms that would be offspring and spouses.  I often wonder how dangerous it is to assume the generic though.  Take children as an example.  My daughter was much easier to deal with than my son.  Both have turned out well so I don’t feel the anguish of Solomon, but there were many times when I was seriously thinking of taking him back to the hospital and demanding a refund.  I will also concede that sometimes girls are the bigger problem but if I had to place a bet I would put it on the son.

Are wives more irritating than husbands?  Being a husband, and knowing what a pleasure I am to live with, I find that easy to believe.  But do you notice that the stereotype is perpetual?  Has anyone ever heard of a rooster-pecked wife?  Do we tell father-in-law jokes?  

So?  The principle might be applied both ways but the Bible tends to reflect real life.  You don’t have to like it, but there it is.