I like talk radio. Whether it's Howard Stern, Medical shows, Sport shows, or other call in shows. One of the one's I particularly like is the "Dr. Laura Show." I happen to like listening to other people's problems, how they deal with them, and the advice that Dr. Laura provides. I think, for the most part, Dr. Laura provides some blunt advice which is pretty good.Her radio program consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal advice and has occasionally featured her short monologues on social and political topics. Her website says that her show "preaches, teaches, and nags about morals, values and ethics."
I'm interested when listening to her when she asks her female listeners: "Are you your husbands girlfriend?" She professes that men need to feel respected, need sex (whether the wife "wants" it or not) and tells wives that they unbeknownst to them, have incredible power over their husbands if they only only wielded it:
"In her book Dr. Laura aims to open the eyes of American wives to help them see that they are the ones digging their own graves where their failing marriages are concerned. She shows them how to own their power, not the power to control their husbands and make them miserable and in so doing make them easier targets for women who go after married men, but their power to keep their marriages strong, and keep their husbands and themselves happy and have the kind of marriage that they want." Marriagescene.com
I agree with it. Women do have the power over men. It may seem that they have to initially give in on respect, the sexual needs of their spouses, and other issues that are important to men. However, if you provide a man his basic needs he will meet the emotional, financial, and spiritual needs of his wife and family. We're puppy dogs.."feed us" and we're your best friend.
Strangely, Dr. Laura comes from an unusual background, however. Her traditional values are staunchly anti-drug, anti-prostitution, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-pornography, anti-pre-marital sex and anti-Democrat. All those values are strikingly similar to the Conservative Republican platform, and that of the religious right. However, Dr. Laura was born Jewish, practiced and raised her family under Orthodox Judaism, and in 2003, announced that she no longer was an Orthodox Jew. Not exactly the prototypical Republican Christian.
While married in 1972, she moved with her family to California and in 1975 met Lewis G. Bishop, a professor of neurophysiology who was married and the father of three children. In 1977, the Dr. got divorced from her then husband and Bishop separated from his wife. Dr. Laura began living with him the same year and continued to live with him for 9 years thereafter. They finally married in 1985. It has long been thought that Dr. Laura was an only child, but she is estranged from her only sister, and has not spoken to her mother for almost 20 years until her death in 2002. Considering these factors, I found it odd that Dr. Laura's listeners are often berated by her for "shacking up", having children out of wedlock and destroying their families.
Many people may not know that early in her career, Dr. Laura took nude photos which were sold to an Internet company specializing in porn. More recently, the good Doctor had used a racial epithet 11 times to a radio listener on the air -11 TIMES!!
I will continue to be a listener of Dr. Laura's show. It's a nice breather from the popular Oprah man-haters programs out there. I agree with a lot of the advice she gives her listeners. However, I just can't understand how someone can be so closed-minded given the background, life and circumstances she has gone through.
