I'm very aware that there are some men out there who have a real hatred of books and who are capable of getting very angry indeed if their partners sit and read at home. My theory is that (a) they associate books with school and with being bored at school, and (b) they see books as intellectual and it makes them feel stupid if their partners engage in what they see as an intellectual activity which they themselves aren't capable of - as if their partners are somehow calling them thick by sitting down to read a book.
Likewise some partners (of either sex) feel that their other halves should sit down and watch telly with them, regardless of how moronic their choice of TV show is or how far outside their partner's range of interests it is. It's always struck me as really babyish, like they're not capable of watching TV on their own and they need someone to watch it with them. They seem to think it's part of their partner's job to watch TV with them, even if what's on TV is a bottom-of-the barrel unfunny sitcom, a live darts match or some godawful garish bit of Saturday night gameshow garbage. And yet if the situation's reversed and their partner gets to choose a TV show of a kind which doesn't appeal to them, they'll huff and puff and call it sh*t and leave the room.
I'm wondering if any Mumsnetters have spent years living in this sort of situation and whether they ended up splitting or living separate lives in the same building. I remember a TV play years ago which touched on this sort of thing; the husband, played by Kenneth Cranham, banned his wife from reading library books. As for the TV thing, that was even closer to home for me.