Not literally geesh...just some light-hearted hyperbole. It is extremely irritating though.

As for the 23 year-old thing, there's no way my DH would entertain a vicious ultimatum like that. Is that what your SD did?

Jackie Onassis - Nice reference....

Why do some women find it necessary to dumb themselves down or make themselves seem younger or more helpless when in the presence of men? Shouldn't we be trying to represent ourselves as strong, intelligent, and self-reliant?

My older sister (33 years old) does this when speaking to her BF, and she always has, but only with guys. I actually punched her in the face once for this when we were teenagers (and I'm NOT the fighting kind). She was talking like a baby to a couple of guys then started spinning around, tossing her hair and saying "weeeeeee" like a toddler. The guys looked amused but slightly embarrassed - like they thought she was easy, but a little too easy...like convincing her to fool around with them would be like taking advantage of a mentally challenged person, and you really can't brag about that! So I saw this as I was walking by and without saying a word, just walked up to them and punched my sister in the face.

I literally cringe every time I hear her do it. We will be going for a walk or hanging out at her place and she's talking normally, when her BF calls, or she has to call him, then all of a sudden she clears her throat and this little cutesy voice comes out. I wonder if her BF has ever heard her real voice. How can he respect her when she sounds like Mayor Quimby's latest conquest? There's no point in calling my sister out on it at this point because she gets extremely defensive if anyone criticizes her, but I always think that if someone said the right thing to her when she was younger about presenting herself as the intelligent, self-respecting individual that she is, maybe she would have stopped. I don't even think she knows she's doing it anymore. (Funny, SD actually said the same thing the last time we called her out on it - that she didn't know she was doing it...probably a bad sign)

I think it's gross when women talk to their partners like this (Khloe Kardashian is another serial offender) but I find it even more gross when teenage girls adopt this same affectation when talking to their fathers! I can understand (though I don't agree) that some women feel it makes them more attractive and less threatening to men (who I guess they feel can't handle it if a woman is independent), but isn't this a sexual thing? Why do you want to appear sexually attractive to your own dad? (Yes, Freud, we've all heard it). If it isn't sexual and you just want your dad to think you're a cute, helpless little girl who needs him to do everything for her, then KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! If your dad has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't respect people who dumb themselves down or act fake in any way, then why in the world would you continue to do it? The whole thing is just completely insane to me.