A man's house is his castle, or so they say. The problem is, for many men today, the castle includes a giant screen TV, with the volume turned up, displaying something violent. And where, exactly, does that leave the woman in his life?

This one frazzled.

I don't want to be the woman approaching retirement age (and I am) who is constantly bringing up the good old days. But I have to say it: There is an enormous contrast between today's television content and what I remember from my childhood in the 1950s, my youth in the 1960s and my young parenthood in the decades after that.

The love of my life (and he is, for sure) has retired several years ahead of me, so when I arrive home after a day's work, looking for a time of relaxation to begin my evening, he is often watching something on television, with the remote control firmly in his grasp. Alas, instead of settling into a neighboring easy chair to relax with him in the family room, I most often flee to the sunroom, the living room or the sewing room, as far away from the TV as I can get.

The television is spewing vitriol, with news commentary segments pitting conservatives against liberals who give me a headache with their oh-so predictable partisan reactions at every drop of the hat. They share their points of view in loud voices, often three at a time, interrupting each other.

"Not that again!" I say. "Do we have to watch that?

He takes a stab at the remote control.

On another channel, correspondents are shouting at one another, excitedly, about the status of the stock market today, or how it might go up or down tomorrow. Do they really have to raise their voices in order to deliver this information?

The evening news (what am I saying – it goes on day and night) has recently featured stories on people trapped and dying of starvation on a mountaintop in Iran, suicide bombings, commercial aircraft blowing up in midair and an Ebola virus running wild in Africa, soon, perhaps, to travel to the U.S. I thought the news had gotten about as bad as it could get, with the riots in Ferguson, Mo., and then there was the beheading of an American journalist in the Middle East.

Horrors on top of horrors, broadcast into my family room, over and over again, all day long.

TV dramas are often just as violent, at least many of the ones my spouse prefers. With no children at home anymore, the channels switch between series like "Game of Thrones" and crime dramas featuring torture and death. I sometimes begin watching a series with him and then quit after a few episodes because of the death and destruction depicted. I liked "Scandal" until there was an episode with a torture scene. "Justified" was such a compelling story with complicated characters. I enjoyed watching it for a while, but as the body count increased, I began to lose interest.

It makes no difference whether graphic violence is added to dramas for its shock value or as an important artistic element, it still adds up to tension for the viewer.

Many of today's reality shows are also offering up hours of conflict and bad behavior. Is this really entertainment? Not for me.

Last week, in my doctor's office waiting room, the TV was showing an old episode of "Leave It To Beaver." The little guy was always getting into trouble – or wiggling out of it – and learning an important lesson in life. Watching this show took me back to my childhood TV memories, so different from most of today's TV. Remember "The Brady Bunch," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Carol Burnett Show?"

There still are 30-minute situation comedies on TV today. I wish my husband was interested in watching them.

But you'd have to admit, even the dramas and crime stories were much less violent years ago – "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," and "I Spy." With very little violence on television back then, watching TV was actually quite relaxing.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the effect of TV violence on children was a hot topic, as mental health professionals, parents and the media began wondering if too much exposure caused anxiety and aggression in children. Today's parents monitor and limit TV watching as a result.

Thankfully, the stressful content of TV shows does not have an anxiety-producing effect on my husband. In fact, he has the ability to relax and grab a nap in the midst of the chaos on the screen.

When he dozes off, I sometimes slip the remote from his hand, turn down the volume and find something relaxing to watch, like a cooking show.

Next time it happens, though, I think I'll return to the good old days and look for that "Leave It To Beaver" channel.

Linda Wojciechowski

associate editor

Catasauqua Press