Great post! I don't think that most women realize how important it is for us to feel respected by them. Love is important but knowing that they trust us and respect our opinions and decisions is also very important. I saw someone say that we only need to respect ourselves and while it is true that we should, we also need to feel that from the women in our lives. I think some people confuse this type of respect with the reverential type of respect that we might have for a boss or a superior. My wife and I had been married for 6 years when she left me 6 months ago. I was so caught up in making money and taking care of financial issues that I had no idea how far we had grown apart. A couple of weeks before she left I had completed a financial deal that tripled the money I invested. She had been skeptical about my choice but when I told her about the success she sarcastically said "well congratulations!". I'll never forget the look of disgust on her face. Looking back, I realize that it was probably due to the fact that I was oblivious to the fact that she had been preparing to leave and that she had been fostering a long - distance online relationship with an ex that contacted her on facebook. (Something I found out about on accident a month after she left).
I do think that society and the media have contributed greatly to the "idiot husband" mentality. I used to laugh at those sitcoms but it really isn't funny. I also agree that men are not raised to be strong men as much as they used to be. Our world is so full of the "PC" mentality and feminism that men are really being taught that if they stand up for something and are masculine then they are brutish oafs. (A wide generalization, i know. But it is quite prevalent today).