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Why would any real man need a woman to stroke his ego? Good Lord. If a man is self-confident, strong, self-assured, his wife should not have to play the ‘praise and adoration’ act.

If the woman is 'acting' (faking it), there lies the problem.

A man naturally expects the woman he loves and is committed to by virtue of marriage to emotionally support him. If the person you love and who you assume loves you can't find it in themselves to encourage you and/or let you know they think you're special (to them, anyway), who will?

Enter the hooker, cute co-worker or next-door neighbor's frisky wife. Whatever the focus of his mistaken attention, a man who is deprived of emotional support and attention from his wife (not to mention, sex) will often seek and find solace somewhere else, even if has to pay for it and even if it risks destroying his life, as happened with Spitzer. None of this excuses adultery on the part of a husband but it does help explain why it happens. Unfortunately, many women don't like the explanation so they try to kill the messenger. In this case, Dr. Laura.

The male ego - a need for 'validation', if you will, won't be denied. Fame, power and wealth can't substitute for a loving wife that thinks her man is the greatest. If these other things could, powerful men would never get married...but they do.That many wives think they can do so with no consequence makes them part of the problem, which is Dr. Laura's point. A point dismissed and ridiculed by some but that also has a lot of male heads bobbing up and down in silent agreement and that should be recognized, not reflexively disputed based, mostly, on feminist orthodoxy.

That some folks seem to view a wife's sexual availability and emotional support for her husband superfluous to the man's emotional well-being demonstrates the validity of Laura Schlesinger's contention that society seems to have given married women the idea that she has little obligation to her husband and that he doesn't need or expect much from her because, if he's all that self-confident, he is his own best friend.

That kind of egotistical attitude in a husband will kill a marriage, fast. The 'praise and adoration' you sneer at should be mutual and should be expressed often, even if in sometime subtle ways. This kind of mutually appreciative attitude is what can keeps a marriage strong.