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Saturday 23 October 2010

14. This is a man’s world (but it wouldn’t mean nothing without a good Bulgarian woman)

Socialising in parks, according to gender.

Women’s lib is yet to make its mark in Bulgaria, and I'm mystified by some of the more sexist aspects of Bulgarian society. Men hang out with men. Women hang out with women. Presumably at some point the two kinds meet otherwise there would never be any Bulgarian babies made.

But, for all you see, at bars, cafes, in the park, even by the side of the road, men sit with their buddies for a beer, a smoke, maybe a game of chess and, presumably, the male equivalent of a good old gossip. It is not good form to take your wife down the local pub of an evening. It’s just not cricket.

And young women are seen as sex objects. Advertising is not very PC here. On our first trip to Bulgaria this summer we passed a billboard advertising a musical instrument shop. The advert was just a semi-naked girl with a guitar between her legs, plus the name of the shop. That’s it. Another billboard actually had boobs on it. Boobs. I hate to be a prude but didn’t anyone stop and say ‘hang on chaps, isn’t this a tad sexist?’

So, women are ultra sexual beings. And yet, weirdly, when you finally get to marry one, you leave her at home in favour of sitting outside the local café with your mates. Hmmm.

I suspect, behind closed doors, the matriarchs firmly wear the trousers. Good for them. Now, would it hurt to take the missus out for a hard-earned white wine spritzer every now and then?