34 Newer Kitchen Products That Are Just Plain Nifty

A crinkle cutter tool for veggies, fruit, potatoes, and cheese that not only makes meal prep a breeze, but makes certain foods more enticing for the picky eaters in the fam. Everyone knows a squiggly-shaped thing tastes better than a regular shape ... it's just science!
A four-pack of silicone straw soda can lids that are like, "Oh, you're obsessed with Diet Coke? Let me find you a reason to be even MORE obsessed." Reviewers love these not just for the ~thrill~ of a straw, but because the covers make the cans a whole lot more spill-proof, prevent your drink from going flat, and protect your can from bugs and debris during outdoor hangs.
McCormick's Potato Topping Seasoning for anyone who's not afraid to get a little feral about their air-fried, mashed, and baked potatoes — this blend of salt, garlic, and asiago cheese is so mouthwateringly delicious that you'll be dumping it on everything from popcorn to grilled cheese to guacamole.
A rechargeable heated ice cream scoop to give your poor spoons and your biceps a BREAK!! You deserve the sweet bliss of ice cream without feeling like you just did a whole CrossFit workout to get it.
A clever magnetic two-layer fridge shelf so roomy and useful that your fruit bowl will be like "Excuse me? What is SHE doing here??" Reviewers are especially impressed with how strong the magnet is on these, and how much space it saves them!
A set of spicy margarita instant cocktail tea bags — all the sophistication of tea and the 😜 of a cheeky cocktail, without the exorbitant bar price tags or the sugar crash. All you have to do is add three ounces of cold water, 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, and the tea sachet into a glass, and you'll have a delicious cocktail in one minute.
A reviewer-beloved four-piece airtight food saver set designed to adapt to the shape of halved fruits so you can snack or cook at your leisure without worrying about food waste. Truly, what wouldn't we do to keep a perfectly ripe avocado half safe??
A set of reusable commercially compostable sandwich-size food bags so good at their job that they're leakproof, freezer-safe, and *wayyy* better for the environment than their regular plastic sandwich bag counterparts. If you're looking for an easy way to cut plastic from your life, these are about to be your new lunchtime BFFs.
A set of cat-shaped dual-sided sponges that dared to ask, "What if we turned Scrub Daddy sponges into cats and also made them way more affordable?" These are the purrrrfect solution for your kitchen aesthetic *and* budget.
A chic under-the-cabinet banana hanger so easy to install that you'll wonder why you didn't free up all your counter space *YEARS* ago. Also digging the whole "bananas as decor" vibe here.
A two-slice slim toaster to fit virtually *anywhere* in your tiny kitchen, and to look gosh darn adorable doing it. Bonus — these long slots make it ideal for larger slices of bread, like your beloved sourdoughs.
A "shark bites" mini hot dog mold sure to make ~waves~ when you show up to the next neighborhood cookout with the coolest snack of all. Sorry, pigs in a blanket; your time in the spotlight is over.
A set of lightweight, super sharp cylinder block kitchen knives that did NOT come here to play — the blades on these are so good that reviewers warn to be careful, because they're even sharper than you think! This is an especially clever space-saving option for smaller kitchens, since the cylinder block takes up less space (and looks quite chic, too).
A — be still my hydrated heart — teensy 14-ounce Stanley Cup for the days when you aren't Big Thirsty, but Little Thirsty, and don't want to haul around a brick of water with you. Reviewers love this for traveling and so their littles can having matching Stanley cups with their big ones!
Oxo's compact Cold Brew Rapid Brewer to make cold brew in FIVE MINUTES (!!) with results so quick and delicious that reviewers love it more than their beloved Aeropresses (and even call it "Aeropress 2.0"). Not only is it faster than comparable models, but it's cheaper, entirely portable, and doesn't need to be charged or plugged in. 🤯 You're going to be swimming in a RIVER of delicious, affordable cold brew with this gizmo.
A set of airtight Oui yogurt jar lids (with labels included!) so instead of recycling your gorgeous little yogurt jars, you can repurpose them to store food, spices, supplies, and all kinds of other handy options. As someone whose main aesthetic is "yogurt," I approve. Reviewers say these worked with La Fermière jars, too!
An Uncrustables-inspired sandwich cutter that goes above and beyond the typical cookie cutter molds parents have been buying for years. This version is sharper and steadier, helping you get a clean cut and a more secure lock on the bread before you eat it fresh or put it in the freezer for meal prep batching.
A cult-favorite line of old school flavoring syrups for your coffee, cocktails, and mocktails to add a personalized, nostalgia-inducing flavor without that slightly "off" chemical taste that comes with store bought crafted drinks and competing syrups. Now you can save your dollars and your time and make a drink your taste buds actually appreciate.
A Grim Steeper silicone tea infuser to remind you that life is, in fact, too short to skip on your delicious morning cuppa.
A fully functional 15-piece Montessori kitchen toy set for the little chefs in your life whose hearts are like "put me on Top Chef Junior!" even if their little hands are still like "I cannot be trusted with a sharp object." These are designed for kids ages 3–12 and can actually cut and julienne, but are safety-designed so kids won't hurt themselves in the process.
A mini colander with folding handles that is basically a mandatory purchase for fruit and veggie lovers — reviewers love how easy it is to plop produce into this lil' guy and rinse it off in the sink with no muss, no fuss of drying everything out after!
Ninja's *portable* Crispi Air Fryer system, perfect for people with high foodie standards and a chaotic schedule. This "all-in-one system" cooks your food in the same container you eat from, so you can pop your meal into the air fryer, cook it, and either pack it for later or eat it right out of the container.
An adjustable reusable shopping bag organizer that will clear up so much chaos that the cabinet under your sink will hand write you a thank-you note.
A sneaky egg pull-out drawer to free up a bunch of shelf real estate in your fridge and give your eggs the elevated little throne they deserve.
A vintage-style, oh-so-convenient corner bread box that takes advantage of quite literally every nook and cranny of your kitchen space. This bread is *extra* airtight to help keep your beloved loaves as fresh as possible, and even comes with two tiers so you can keep all your grub organized!
An investment-worthy insulated casserole carrier from the *beloved* kitchen brand Oxo that, similar to all their products, takes it to the next level — reviewers love how easily this handles all manners of rectangular clunky casserole dishes and keeps them super warm or super cold for *hours*, all while making them easier to transport than ever.
A genius 2-in-1 knife and cutting board perfect for all your quick chopping needs that don't require a whole production of cutting boards. This scissor-like contraption lets you slice against a flat surface for easier use, then slide your veggies into a bowl or on top of a dish in a flash.
A self-draining silicone sponge holder, aka the ultimate sink investment for keeping the area fresh and clean and ~elevated~. Reviewers love this easy-to-clean accessory for draining sponges and brushes, catching soap residue, and preventing mildew-y, icky smells from wafting.
An electric travel kettle for all the tea, coffee, and oatmeal monsters out there who want instant, portable access to their lifeblood. People love this for at-home use when they're not traveling, too — it boils SUPER fast for quick cuppas, and has a small profile that makes it easy to put away.
A compact, minimalist Lomi electric composter that turns your food waste *directly* into natural fertilizer in under 24 hours with a single button — meaning buh-byyyye weird food smells from compost sitting out on your counter, and helloooo sustainable composting for your home garden and plant collection.
A multipurpose "hydration hub" you can use to organize everything from hydration packs to tea bags to instant coffee bags to vitamins, designed with clear storage so you can easily see and access everything inside. You're about to be one well-hydrated human!!
A pickling starter kit complete with everything you need to start fermenting small batches of INFINITE delicious things, from the traditional cucumbers and onions to yummy sauerkraut and kimchi to adventurous watermelon and mango. 😋 (If you've never had pickled mango before ... THANK ME LATER.)
An aesthetically pleasing hanging waste bin you can hook to a drawer or cabinet to collect scraps during meal prep. Future compost pile, but make it chic. ✨
A set of slanted stemmed wineglasses in muted colors for anyone who loves to make their guests go "Ooooh" when they host a lil' happy hour.

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Buzz Feed

12-06-2025

• Buzz Feed

33 Cool Food And Sleep Products

A bottle of truffle seasoning for an instant upgrade on homemade meals that honestly has become one of my only personality traits, to the point where I'm just like, begging you to try it. I should gatekeep this stuff so I can have it all to myself but it is such a delicious and satisfying and ridiculously affordable alternative to real truffles that I'm throwing the gates WIDE OPEN. A weighted eye mask that's basically like a weighted blanket for your human eyes, designed to decrease stress and encourage ~deep sleep~. They also feature a 3D contour, so they're hollowed out in the middle and won't rest right on top of your eyes. A Yonanas fruit soft serve maker to magic any frozen fruit into an ice cream or sorbet texture so you can have a yummy frozen treat made to your *precise* favorite fruit combos. A lot of folks with dietary restrictions swear by this to get their ice cream kicks! A "zen sleep" essential oil roller made with a relaxing blend of lavender, rosemary, orange, and grapeseed for a soft little cocoon of scents that will make you feel like a happy little garden is rocking you to sleep. You can apply this on your temples, wrists, or even roll it on your pillow! A set of wax earplugs that mold to the shape of your inner ear like putty, fully blocking out noises like snoring, car honking, or the night owl in your home queueing up The Office who forgot, yet again, to turn the sound down before the theme started playing on full blast. 🫠 And a set of reviewer-beloved "Loops Quiet 2," aka the "earplugs for people who hate earplugs." These lightweight plugs are meticulously designed to muffle distracting, irritating, or overwhelming noise without completely blocking out the world around you, so you'll still be able to hear your alarm clock or any concerning noises. (Parents especially love these for muffling noise without blocking out their kids!) Nuts 'N More's Chocolate Maple Pretzel Peanut Butter Spread, which just put so many beautiful words in such a small space that I am salivating just TYPING them. Whomstsoever thought up a flavor so perfectly sweet, salty, crunchy, and smooth at the same time deserves to only ever get green lights and always have their pillowcase cool. An affordable brown noise sound machine as a gentler option to white noise — it's a steady, deeper sound that's a little less harsh, and a lot of people swear by it for calmer sleep. That said, this versatile gizmo not only has three brown noise options, but white noise, pink noise (a sort of "in between" brown and white), fan noises, lullabies, and 15 nature sounds to choose from. Oh — and it's an optional multi-color night-light! A container of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cinnadust so absurdly delicious that all food will just become a mere canvas for putting Cinnadust on. Reviewers use this on everything from coffee to toast to yogurt to fries to popcorn to sweet potatoes to ice cream to — you know what, I'll let you decide on your cinnajourney for yourself. McCormick's Potato Topping Seasoning for anyone who's not afraid to get a little feral about their air-fried, mashed, and baked potatoes — this blend of salt, garlic, and asiago cheese is so mouthwateringly delicious that you'll be dumping it on everything from popcorn to grilled cheese to guacamole. An adjustable cervical cooling pillow designed to make your neck as comfy and pain-free as possible, using its unique contoured design to cradle your head and support your neck's natural curve. Honestly, the cooling fabric is just a bonus for this little overachiever. A PopLite personal popcorn maker with a built-in serving bowl that will give you eight cups of movie theater-quality popcorn in two mere mortal minutes. Reviewers especially love that the popcorn doesn't burn, and the machine doesn't leave unpopped kernels like the usual microwave brands. A set of disposable Plackers "Grind No More" Night Guards for anyone who sleeps like this 😬😬😬 and wakes up like this. 😫 Each one of these grind-absorbing bite plates can be used up to 30 times to help reduce the tension from grinding your teeth in the middle of the night. Psst — this is also a MUCH cheaper alternative to costly bite guards that go for hundreds of dollars! Dr Teal's Sleep Body Lotion infused with melatonin, lavender, and chamomile for that precise "ahhhhhh" feeling that might help you drift off into dreamland and wake up with moisturized, happy skin. A pickling starter kit complete with everything you need to start fermenting small batches of INFINITE delicious things, from the traditional cucumbers and onions to yummy sauerkraut and kimchi to adventurous watermelon and mango 😋 . (If you've never had pickled mango before ... THANK ME LATER.) Built's "Puff Protein Bars" that are basically chocolate-covered marshmallows that also, by some witchcraft, have 17 entire grams of protein in them?? And NO weird aftertaste. If you are also someone who is in a perpetual state of "I need protein or I will bite someone's brain off," I am telling you, nothing in this WORLD will feel better than pulling one of these out of your bag. A set of self-heating lavender eye masks, which might be juuuuust the ticket to releasing the stress and tension that keeps your brain going in circles at night. Reviewers also swear by these for headache and migraine relief! A simple silicone bread maker that proves you don't need any know-how or complicated instructions to make delicious bread at home — in fact, you can mix the ingredients right into the silicone maker and pop it right into the oven. (A bunch of easy recipes are included to prove it!) A gorgeously designed Hatch Restore 3 for all the insomniacs and bad sleepers out there. This sunrise alarm and sound machine works overtime as a touch-controlled smart light, bedtime reading light, and even a wind-down light that helps you get into a healthier sleep routine at night and a much more calm, gradually soothing wake-up in the morning. Other bedside lamps could truly never. A cheery little "Buttercup" butter maker so you can make delicious butter in less than five (!!) minutes and enter a cottagecore era unlike any you've ever known. Time to impress your friends by gifting them with small batch butters in garlic, honey, truffle, and all kiiiinds of flavors you haven't even fathomed yet. A set of reviewer-beloved chocolate bar molds for anyone who dreams of DIY-ing their ultimate dessert. These are great for mix-ins like nuts and cereal, but also have enough depth for you to add fillings like peanut butter, jam, and caramel. Teeccino, the MVP of all coffee lovers who love sleep even more — this caffeine-free, acid-free strong herbal blend steeps like regular tea, but somehow mimics the taste of coffee so brilliantly that you'll get all the flavor and satisfaction without of a late night cuppa any of the insomnia. A supportive back pain relief pillow for side, stomach, *and* back sleepers with a firm, slight triangle bolster to give your joints and bones some immediate relief. Reviewers with sciatica and hip pain especially swear by this MVP (Most Valuable Pillow). A sushi-making kit perfect for beginners or intermediate sushi makers, so you can finally mix and match the exact ingredients your adventurous heart desires. Ghetto Gastro Sweet Potato Pancake & Waffle Mix your tastebuds deserve to try immediately — the reviews raving about the texture and perfect sweetness of the sweet potato flavor speak for themselves. A set of decadently cooling bamboo bed sheets so soft, breathable, and lovely that you'll be like, "Wait — am I in a White Lotus hotel??" Hot sleepers especially swear by these, and reviewers love how durable they are and how nicely they drape on mattresses. All of the luxury of being a rich person on an HBO drama, without any exorbitant prices (or murder)! And a set of satin pillowcases that not only have a cooling effect, but are soft on your skin and create less friction for your hair so it won't get as tangled while you sleep. Reviewers especially love these because they're an affordable alternative to ones that typically run $18 per case! A mushroom growing kit that grows right there in the packaging, so you can add some sweet, sweet umami flavors to all your favorite fall dishes by sautéing, roasting, or air frying them up. A microwave bacon cooker because as fun as it is to get your cardio in dodging bacon grease spitting at you from the pan, THERE IS ANOTHER WAY. This can cook seven to nine strips at a time, and comes with grooves and a spout designed to pour out the extra fat. A bag of viral mango peeling candy you may have seen some variation of if you're an avid member of CandyTok. These gummies peel like real fruit, so you can eat it "as is" or have an ~immersive~ candy experience unwrapping it first. A set of "Sleep & Recharge" melatonin Neuromints with lemon balm and chamomile to help get you in the ~zone~ for sleep on days when your brain is particularly wired after a hard day's work. Small Batch Cookies, tailor made for folks who live alone *or* for people who want to broaden their baking horizons, but don't want to deal with the mess of big batches (or the leftovers)! This book takes you through a bunch of delicious recipes for one to six people using minimal equipment, so you can have hassle-free treats and live your most delicious life. A set of wineglass charcuterie toppers to make you the ultimate host of wine and cheese nights ... *or* just an elite experience curating your own snack-and-vino vibe at home. (Friday night cheese is the most sacred cheese of all.)

Yahoo

09-06-2025

• Yahoo

What's So Shocking About a Man Who Loves His Wife?

The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. A few Sundays ago, I was in a car ride home with my wife when the light caught her face in a lovely way. I snapped a photo, and shortly afterward posted it to Instagram with several iterations of an emoji that felt appropriate: a man smiling, with hearts in place of his eyes. I did this because I love her. My love for my wife does not exist solely online; I often express it directly to her, or talk about her in glowing terms to friends and co-workers. It feels natural—as natural as sharing my feelings about anything to the internet, in the same way I'd post about how much I'm enjoying my Twin Peaks rewatch, or the particularly good sandwich I ate on vacation. So the first time that someone called me a 'wife guy,' I wasn't sure how to react. If you are encountering this phrase for the first time and think wife guy surely must mean 'a guy who loves his wife,' you would be dead wrong. The term, which rose to popularity sometime during the first Trump administration, describes someone whose spousal affection is so ostentatious that it becomes inherently untrustworthy. 'The wife guy defines himself,' the critic Amanda Hess has written, 'through a kind of overreaction to being married.' The wife guy posts a photo of his wife to Instagram along with several emojis of a man smiling with hearts in place of his eyes. He will repeat this sort of action so many times that even his closest friends may think, Enough already. He is so consistently and loudly psyched about being married that sirens are set off in the mind of family members and strangers alike, who wonder what shortcomings he aspires to compensate for through such enthusiastic declarations. In a world where identity is always being performed on social media, this particular identity is clearly one to avoid. But I, a guy who loves his wife, can't help but conclude that valuable terrain is being ceded when we think poorly of the wife guy. Many men, accustomed to bottling up their feelings, are already afraid to show what's in their heart and on their mind. If some of them are actually moved to express their love publicly and unabashedly—is this so wrong? The term wife guy is a by-product of several converging trends. On social media, millions of people have become accustomed to broadcasting what they are up to, a recurring action that eventually reduces most behaviors and traits to caricature. Do you drink a lot of Diet Coke? Watch out, lest you become a 'Diet Coke guy.' At the same time, the mechanics of social media are such that basically any identity can be created and monetized—and so thousands of people might desperately aspire to make a living by being a Diet Coke guy. Some already do. Once a clever person recognized that 'loving your wife' was an emotion that some people were performing in notable ways, the wife guy seemed to be everywhere. There was the 'curvy-wife guy,' an influencer who made lots of content about how much he adored his plus-size wife. There was the 'cliff-wife guy,' a different influencer who posted a dramatic video about the shock of watching his wife fall off a cliff. (It was more of a short drop, and she appeared to be basically fine.) Celebrities such as John Mulaney, Prince Harry, and Ryan Reynolds turned their marriages into content, so much content. These guys wanted to be wife guys and made 'Honor thy wife' into an informal commandment for modern living. This was around the time of the #MeToo movement, in which men's scummy behavior toward women was suddenly being reevaluated across society—and the wife guy, though perhaps over-the-top, seemed to be a welcome corrective. [Read: There's no way to repair marriage without repairing men] As more wife guys popped up, the phrase evolved. Before long, you did not have to be a public figure to be a wife guy—you just had to be a guy. And the establishment of this easily attainable personality opened it up for critique. Some wife guys didn't appear to love their wives all that much; their affection seemed a bit forced, or stage-directed, or perhaps even outright transactional. Some famous wife guys got divorced, or cheated on their wives, or began to look like they were going through the motions. The rapturous feelings they'd shown began to seem like a cover-up for some sort of unpleasant truth. 'Posting publicly on social media about your love for your spouse shouldn't be a sign of cheating,' the New York Post declared, 'but in 2022, it's an immediate red flag.' Wife guy, always a little mocking, curdled into the plainly pejorative. Thus did my friends' casual remarks that I was a wife guy begin to feel like digs, even if they weren't meant that way. That I, a 36-year-old heterosexual man, should love my wife does not seem like a grand surprise. I married her for love, not because of a secret desire to inherit her immense oil fortune (she does not have one) or because of an accidental pregnancy and subsequent familial pressure to tie the knot (no baby here). I met her through a mutual pal—her best friend was also my boss—and a few months later, I sat back and thought to myself, You know, I am having a tremendously good time getting to know this beautiful, intelligent, hilarious, kind, ambitious woman with great taste in movies and books and music and fashion whom all of my friends love. Within a few years, we were engaged, and wedded not long after that, a series of decisions that felt as instinctual and obvious as ordering more bread to go with my unused dip. Hence my surprise when my uncomplicated expressions of adoration started to be noticed—and judged. [Read: Today's masculinity is stifling] Still, I understand why other people might be suspicious. When my wife and I were first dating, and everything felt so good, I could not always avoid sounding smug. 'It feels like,' I told one friend, 'we're better than every other couple.' I do not think my friends were hoping our relationship would fail, but they were unfamiliar with the emotions I was broadcasting—it probably did seem like I was putting it on, when really I was just very happy. Obviously I know love is not about showing off how in love you are. Love contains something internal and unmeasurable that can be weighed only in private, not presented for others to observe. And in fact, when dating, I was accustomed to adopting a more defensive pose, in which I'd play it cool so that my future self wouldn't look back with regret at how I'd left myself exposed. Such is a subcurrent of the skepticism toward the wife guy: an anticipation of the moment when all this publicly performed love will collapse onto itself, and be revealed as shortsighted. I knew it, thinks the naysayer. But falling in love, and getting married, has changed a great many things about the way I see the world, and validated other ideas that I suspected were true but had not yet confirmed for myself. Namely, that love requires vulnerability—a willingness to be naive and silly, a willingness to lay down your defenses and welcome what comes next, whether good or bad. To me, this is the only state of being worth pursuing in this life. Of course, I'd prefer to keep multiple aspects of this alchemic process, and my marriage, to myself (for example, the level of mess that occasionally accumulates when two writers live together). But sometimes, I just want to share it with the world—even if it makes people roll their eyes. We are all performing some identity, in some way, and I can live with being a 'guy who loves his wife a lot,' no matter what nicknames it brings. Article originally published at The Atlantic

Atlantic

09-06-2025

• Atlantic

In Defense of the ‘Wife Guy'

A few Sundays ago, I was in a car ride home with my wife when the light caught her face in a lovely way. I snapped a photo, and shortly afterward posted it to Instagram with several iterations of an emoji that felt appropriate: a man smiling, with hearts in place of his eyes. I did this because I love her. My love for my wife does not exist solely online; I often express it directly to her, or talk about her in glowing terms to friends and co-workers. It feels natural—as natural as sharing my feelings about anything to the internet, in the same way I'd post about how much I'm enjoying my Twin Peaks rewatch, or the particularly good sandwich I ate on vacation. So the first time that someone called me a 'wife guy,' I wasn't sure how to react. If you are encountering this phrase for the first time and think wife guy surely must mean 'a guy who loves his wife,' you would be dead wrong. The term, which rose to popularity sometime during the first Trump administration, describes someone whose spousal affection is so ostentatious that it becomes inherently untrustworthy. 'The wife guy defines himself,' the critic Amanda Hess has written, 'through a kind of overreaction to being married.' The wife guy posts a photo of his wife to Instagram along with several emojis of a man smiling with hearts in place of his eyes. He will repeat this sort of action so many times that even his closest friends may think, Enough already. He is so consistently and loudly psyched about being married that sirens are set off in the mind of family members and strangers alike, who wonder what shortcomings he aspires to compensate for through such enthusiastic declarations. In a world where identity is always being performed on social media, this particular identity is clearly one to avoid. But I, a guy who loves his wife, can't help but conclude that valuable terrain is being ceded when we think poorly of the wife guy. Many men, accustomed to bottling up their feelings, are already afraid to show what's in their heart and on their mind. If some of them are actually moved to express their love publicly and unabashedly—is this so wrong? The term wife guy is a by-product of several converging trends. On social media, millions of people have become accustomed to broadcasting what they are up to, a recurring action that eventually reduces most behaviors and traits to caricature. Do you drink a lot of Diet Coke? Watch out, lest you become a 'Diet Coke guy.' At the same time, the mechanics of social media are such that basically any identity can be created and monetized—and so thousands of people might desperately aspire to make a living by being a Diet Coke guy. Some already do. Once a clever person recognized that 'loving your wife' was an emotion that some people were performing in notable ways, the wife guy seemed to be everywhere. There was the 'curvy-wife guy,' an influencer who made lots of content about how much he adored his plus-size wife. There was the 'cliff-wife guy,' a different influencer who posted a dramatic video about the shock of watching his wife fall off a cliff. (It was more of a short drop, and she appeared to be basically fine.) Celebrities such as John Mulaney, Prince Harry, and Ryan Reynolds turned their marriages into content, so much content. These guys wanted to be wife guys and made 'Honor thy wife' into an informal commandment for modern living. This was around the time of the #MeToo movement, in which men's scummy behavior toward women was suddenly being reevaluated across society—and the wife guy, though perhaps over-the-top, seemed to be a welcome corrective. As more wife guys popped up, the phrase evolved. Before long, you did not have to be a public figure to be a wife guy—you just had to be a guy. And the establishment of this easily attainable personality opened it up for critique. Some wife guys didn't appear to love their wives all that much; their affection seemed a bit forced, or stage-directed, or perhaps even outright transactional. Some famous wife guys got divorced, or cheated on their wives, or began to look like they were going through the motions. The rapturous feelings they'd shown began to seem like a cover-up for some sort of unpleasant truth. 'Posting publicly on social media about your love for your spouse shouldn't be a sign of cheating,' the New York Post declared, 'but in 2022, it's an immediate red flag.' Wife guy, always a little mocking, curdled into the plainly pejorative. Thus did my friends' casual remarks that I was a wife guy begin to feel like digs, even if they weren't meant that way. That I, a 36-year-old heterosexual man, should love my wife does not seem like a grand surprise. I married her for love, not because of a secret desire to inherit her immense oil fortune (she does not have one) or because of an accidental pregnancy and subsequent familial pressure to tie the knot (no baby here). I met her through a mutual pal—her best friend was also my boss—and a few months later, I sat back and thought to myself, You know, I am having a tremendously good time getting to know this beautiful, intelligent, hilarious, kind, ambitious woman with great taste in movies and books and music and fashion whom all of my friends love. Within a few years, we were engaged, and wedded not long after that, a series of decisions that felt as instinctual and obvious as ordering more bread to go with my unused dip. Hence my surprise when my uncomplicated expressions of adoration started to be noticed—and judged. Still, I understand why other people might be suspicious. When my wife and I were first dating, and everything felt so good, I could not always avoid sounding smug. 'It feels like,' I told one friend, 'we're better than every other couple.' I do not think my friends were hoping our relationship would fail, but they were unfamiliar with the emotions I was broadcasting—it probably did seem like I was putting it on, when really I was just very happy. Obviously I know love is not about showing off how in love you are. Love contains something internal and unmeasurable that can be weighed only in private, not presented for others to observe. And in fact, when dating, I was accustomed to adopting a more defensive pose, in which I'd play it cool so that my future self wouldn't look back with regret at how I'd left myself exposed. Such is a subcurrent of the skepticism toward the wife guy: an anticipation of the moment when all this publicly performed love will collapse onto itself, and be revealed as shortsighted. I knew it, thinks the naysayer. But falling in love, and getting married, has changed a great many things about the way I see the world, and validated other ideas that I suspected were true but had not yet confirmed for myself. Namely, that love requires vulnerability—a willingness to be naive and silly, a willingness to lay down your defenses and welcome what comes next, whether good or bad. To me, this is the only state of being worth pursuing in this life. Of course, I'd prefer to keep multiple aspects of this alchemic process, and my marriage, to myself (for example, the level of mess that occasionally accumulates when two writers live together). But sometimes, I just want to share it with the world—even if it makes people roll their eyes. We are all performing some identity, in some way, and I can live with being a 'guy who loves his wife a lot,' no matter what nicknames it brings.