Statement by Anne Fielding, Aesthetic Realism Consultant, Actress, Director of the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company

About the new, disgusting lie that people are told whom to marry

To have the nerve to say people who study Aesthetic Realism are told whom to marry is ugly and sick. It's a filthy insult to women and men in relation to that deeply intimate aspect of people's lives—love and marriage. The putting forth of such a smear is an example of how much this liar feels he has the right to make up anything.

     And as of summer 2008, it is a new lie. After all this time, he manufactures it.  

     I tell now about myself. When, in my late teens and beginning my theatrical career, I met Sheldon Kranz, poet, editor, and later Aesthetic Realism consultant, I fell in love with him—his charm, his good looks, his intellect, his warmth, his humor, his knowledge of literature and drama. The notion that I was “told” to marry him is preposterous! I was following the dictates of my own heart.

     And as a consultant for over thirty years with the trio There Are Wives, I'm proud to say the way Aesthetic Realism sees marriage is beautiful, practical, kind—and romantic! Nothing respects the meaning of marriage more, or sees it with more exactitude and freshness. And it's a pleasure to teach this knowledge to women with my colleagues Barbara Allen and Pauline Meglino in consultations and in our much loved monthly “Understanding Marriage” class, which is attended by women of diverse ages and backgrounds and life experiences.   Women learn the basis for a kind, successful marriage. Whether a woman is just married, thinking of marriage, or has been married for many years, she learns what she's most hoping to know on the subject: “The purpose of marriage is to like the world.” And women learn too—and are relieved and grateful—about the thing that hurts, even ruins married life, the thing that makes wives and husbands furious and unkind to each other: the fact that they “have tried to love in a way that would mean less like for the world—in fact, a contempt for it.”

     Here's how these lively, deeply educational classes are described in the Aesthetic Realism Foundation course brochure:

Through studying the opposites of contempt and respect in the history of marriage and in their own lives, including yesterday's incident at the breakfast table, wives learn how to use marriage and a husband to like the world.   There is class discussion of such subjects as: Real Trust in Marriage—How Can We Have It?; Is Understanding Your Husband Exciting?; How Can a Wife Feel Proud about Sex?; First Cupid, Then Quarrels—What's the Cause?

And to see what the consultations There Are Wives gives are like, and what women say about them, go to my website: www.AnneFielding.net