O just unseen, inscrutable, invisible,

As a nose on a man’s face,

Or a weathervane on a steeple,

My master sues to her,

And she hath taught her suitor,

He being her pupil,

To become her tutor.

— Shakespeare

Unseen, inscrutable, invisible. I’m sure that at one point or another most people would love to be invisible. Not on a permanent basis, mark you, for that would be no fun, and also impractical.

There have been many movies dealing with invisibility, with the most famous being the two versions of The Invisible Man, the old black and white version and the newer colour version. Both ended badly for the invisible man character, as his new found power flew to his head and led to his arrogance and ultimate demise.

But movies or not, many people would love to don the cloak of invisibility for various reasons. An invisible man could walk around undetected and spy on people. He could stand in a woman’s bedroom and gaze at her nakedness without her being aware of his presence. He could rob from institutions and steal from people and even be a spy for the military. The possibilities are endless.

But there are people who are invisible not of their choice or intention, women in particular, and that’s who we’ll try to see through today, right after these very visible responses to what I had to say about ‘The househusband’.

Hi Tony,

I had next door neighbours who I am still not sure what their domestic status was. The husband would clean house and wash the dishes, and he really loved to cook. The wife would cut the grass using a push lawn mower, plus do the gardening. Perhaps it’s just sharing the chores and each choosing what they love to do or what they were best at. I also recall as a teenager I would iron my school uniform and I loved to cook. I’m sure there is a lesson there in all this.

Leonard

Teerob,

Nice article, bro. I think that most people don’t realise that with the new norm of women earning more than their men, that the role of househusbands is inevitable. It also will grow.

Pardy

Men love to look at women, that’s a fact of life, and women love being looked at too, even though some may say otherwise. And because of this, many, if not most women will do their utmost best to be attractive and highly visible to men, and to society in general.

When she puts on that make-up with the lashes, hair, eyebrows, lipstick and other adornments, she is highly visible to all who look on. She’s like a peacock among hens as she stands out with high visibility.

A beautiful woman will walk into a room or traipse down the street and turn heads because of her heightened visibility, but there are some women who are totally invisible to men, and not of their own doing either. The fact is, they have nothing about them that men find attractive. They will walk into a room, night club or social function and no one even sees them.

This is heightened if they’re are in the company of a beautiful woman, for all eyes will be on the gorgeous woman and no one will even see the other one.

“Did you see the fox who walked in the room just now?”

“Yes I did, what a looker she is.”

Sadly, no one even saw or made mention of her touring partner who walked in beside her, due to her invisibility.

It’s a sad scenario, but please do not cuss me for pointing it out, for it’s a fact of life and has been so for centuries. So don’t whip the messenger, but heed the message.

Women who are unattractive, homely, or downright ugly, although it’s not politically correct to say that, are invisible. No one sees them, and no one ever will, especially if they’re in the company of a highly visible beautiful woman.

Through no fault of their own, some women are grossly unattractive, and men will not even take a second glance at them. There are some very ugly men too, but for some strange reason, ugly men don’t know that they’re ugly and will approach beautiful women with the confidence of Adonis. We have seen some very ugly men marrying beautiful women, but we know why.

“Did you see those two women who walked into the club?”

“Not at all, I only saw one.”

The other one was totally invisible.

Women who are overweight are also invisible, especially to men who do not like too much poundage on the female frame. That being said, there are some men who love fluffy women and find them very visible indeed. But the average man doesn’t relish too much weight on his woman. Let that same woman lose 50 pounds and see how visible she becomes.

“Norman, it’s me Sandra, you don’t remember me?”

“Wow, is that really you? I never saw you before until you lost all that weight.”

Believe it or not, there are women who are neither ugly nor fat, but are still invisible to their men and to society in general. Those are the women whose men never take them out in public.

The man is married, but never goes anywhere with his wife.

“You know how long I know Victor and never knew that he was married.”

Those women are confined to the house, making them invisible to all. They are invisible to their husbands who don’t even see them any more.

“No matter how I fix up myself and look pretty for him, he never sees me.”

He is seen at every function either alone or with his other woman, who is distinctly visible, but never with his wife who has donned the cloak of invisibility for many years now.

“I never knew that he was married.”

“I thought his wife had passed away years ago.”

“I thought that she was away in farrin.”

“When last have you seen his wife, are they separated?”

Not at all, she’s just invisible.

Some women also make themselves invisible, as after many years of marriage they cease from putting themselves together properly, shrinking away into emotional darkness and forcing their husbands to leave them at home.

“Whap’n to your wife bredrin, I haven’t seen her in years?”

“Man, she just want to stay home, stop put herself together and turn invisible.”

Believe it or not, there are also attractive women who are invisible, but not to everyone. Enter the mistress, the other woman, who is visible to her married man and perhaps a few of his friends, but never to the man’s wife. That wife is totally oblivious to the other woman’s existence, even though that woman is an integral part of her husband’s life.

That’s called selective invisibility, where everyone else knows of and sees the mistress, except the wife. As the old saying goes, the wife is the last to know.

“All those years I never knew that he had another woman with me.”

All the signs were there, but she chose not to see them, making the other woman totally invisible.

Maybe it’s a case of none so blind that they refuse to see. Whatever the reasons are, there are some women who are highly visible, while others are totally invisible.

“My word, she says that she knows me, but I can’t even remember her name.”

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eyes.”

“It would be too easy to say that I feel invisible, instead I feel painfully visible, and entirely ignored.”

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: A few weeks ago I had some friends from overseas who wanted to experience some Jamaican restaurant fare. They had heard about Devon House and wanted to go there. Well, the experience was a mixed bag, for the food was good, but the prices were unbelievable. Can you believe one curry goat meal cost $6,000 and one oxtail cost $6,500? My friends who bought the oxtail counted five pieces of oxtail in the meal. What could justify food costing so much? My visiting friends vowed never to go back there as they felt taken advantage of. I believe in fine dining and I love eating out, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Paying $6,500 for a plate of oxtail is simply outrageous. That could buy a tyre for a small car, or pay a domestic worker for a day’s work. And oh yes, fried chicken was $2,300 for two pieces of chicken and some rice. How can those prices be justified?