Marry me a little...NOT!

Couldn't Liam have figured out that maybe, just maybe, somebody might have seen him with Steffy's tongue down his throat? They were in the driveway. It's a public place. Apparently, Hope needed to spell it out for him.

There must be something in those umbrella drinks at the Bikini Bar because Liam Spencer has a bad case of marriage-itis. Is there such a disease or are we in virgin territory here? Oh wait, that's Hope's thing. Liam and Steffy don't understand virginity, the idea of waiting to be married until you're intimate with your partner. That notion, which Brad Bell has decided is too 20th century for a character on his 21st century soap, was de rigueur not so long ago. It's really only since the late 1960s -- the post-Birth Control Pill era -- that society really tolerated the idea of couples having sex before marriage. Apparently, Brad wants to change the way we all think and turn Hope into the oddball for not wanting to have intercourse with her boyfriend before marriage.

But it doesn't matter anymore because the engagement is over. Before we go into the how and why, I want you all to know that Liam Spencer is the perhaps the worst character ever on this soap. Okay, maybe not the worst, but he's in the running. There were moments last week when I was tempted to throw something at the screen just to take out my anger on him! At that bachelor party, could he have been a bigger jerk?

Then, sitting in the car, he let Steffy rip Hope to shreds. How could he do that? He's supposed to be in love with Hope. A real man would have told Steffy to "get lost" and walked out of the car! Did our Liam do that? No, he sat there like a bump on a log and let Steffy go on and on and on, filling his head with negativity about the woman Liam loves. It served him right that Hope spied him kissing Steffy and decided to end the engagement.

Of course, Liam was completely in the dark about why she ended it. It would never occur to him that his hanging out with Steffy was wrong and disloyal and inappropriate. But Hope was wrong to not spell it out for the dolt. Clearly, he needed to hear why she decided he was not good enough for her. But, really, couldn't he have figured out that maybe, just maybe, somebody might have seen him with Steffy's tongue down his throat? They were in the driveway. It's a public place.

I firmly believe that if you're doing something wrong, you know it! Liam should have known that he was wrong to be close to Steffy in that way. Couldn't he have wondered, "Gee, maybe Hope is upset because I've been letting Steffy tear her down to me? Maybe Hope expects me to defend her to Steffy? Maybe Hope would want me to say, 'I support you and will wait for the wedding because I love you'?" Lame-brain Liam just can't put two and two together. For that reason alone, Hope shouldn't marry him!

To add insult to injury, Liam made matters worse. He found Hope's diamond ring on the mantel and immediately put it on another woman's finger! Apparently, Liam cannot hold an engagement ring in his hand without proposing to someone. Would he have put the ring on Dayzee's finger if she'd been around? What about Taylor or some other unattached lady at the moment? Was Steffy just in the right place at the right time? It does make you wonder. Does he have any idea what marriage involves?

Imagine if you're Hope; you're brokenhearted and leave the ring at Liam's, then less than 12 hours later, he's given it to your stepsister. That's right -- Steffy! How's that for true love? Can you hear him explaining that to Hope -- once he finds out that she gave him back the ring because she saw him kissing Steffy in the car -- "You see, Hope, Steffy was there and she gave me her hand and...oh, I don't know, the ring just sort of jumped onto her finger and I sorta, had to propose. Oh, and then I had sex with her because I couldn't stand waiting another minute because I'm a spineless horndog."

What is Brad Bell trying to sell us? That marriage is the be-all and end-all for this young man who's not even 25? Really; because statistics show that most guys aren't looking to get married until they're 30 or more. Look at Liam's dad, Dollar Bill Spencer. He held out until well past 40. Why isn't Liam -- who's adopted his father's beard, sword necklace, and last name -- modeling himself after dear old dad when it comes to marriage? Shouldn't he be a playboy like young Bill was? And wouldn't Bill, who's all about image, want that for his son? I mean, we know Bill doesn't want Liam to marry Hope because she's a Goody Two-Shoes; but does Bill really want Liam to marry Steffy instead of playing the field?

Which brings me to Bill and his sick obsession with getting Steffy to become Liam's lover. I said it before and I'll say it again; it's twisted that Bill would want to share Steffy with Liam. It's not normal that a father would want to live vicariously through his son in a sexual way, which is how this is coming across. Bill couldn't bed Steffy, so he'll fantasize about it while Liam's doing the deed? And why on earth is Steffy conspiring with Bill to do this? If that were you -- or me -- in that position, wouldn't you feel used...abused...debased?

And even if we're supposed to believe that Steffy isn't disgusted with Bill trying to hook her up with his son, why is Steffy so enraptured with Liam? He's not really her type at all. Okay, he saved her life; that's not the basis of a long-term, marital commitment. What if the person who found her in the bathtub had been the landlord? Or a fireman? What about a maintenance man who was checking on the smoke detectors? Would Steffy be engaged to him instead of Liam?

Another point of contention that's been bothering me is this: Steffy keeps saying that Liam is the perfect boyfriend. Excuse me, but in what universe does he measure up to the best ever? Here's a man who, on the night of his bachelor party, lets Steffy drive him home and kiss him in a way that's not appropriate for friends. If Liam had any gumption, he'd have never let Steffy drive him home. Doesn't he remember what almost happened with Amber? That screwed up his life, and it was all just a con job by Amber.

Liam should not have been spending any time with Steffy at the beach house. All those walks on the beach, the constant conversation about how horrible Hope has been for not letting him make love to her, and then Steffy's sleepover...that was all going on while Hope was planning a wedding. Those are not the actions of a loving boyfriend. In fact, if that had been my fianc's way of showing me how much he loved me, I would have dropped him like a hot potato, too. (He didn't; I married him 21 years ago and we've been together ever since.) And if Steffy were honest, she wouldn't want a boyfriend who acted the way Liam has. He's been a whiny, selfish, and self-obsessed boy when he should have been a considerate, upfront and supportive man.

Steffy's hardly been innocent. She's undermined her stepsister from the get-go. With relatives like Steffy, you don't need enemies. She's had an agenda, and no matter what Brooke -- or anyone else -- said to her, asking Steffy to respect Hope's relationship, Steffy chose to listen to Bill and be a seductive temptress with Liam as her target. I have no respect for her actions and even less for him because he should have realized that he was being manipulated.

And what's the point really? Does Steffy really want to be married to Liam? I don't think so. I don't think she wants to be married to anyone at this point in her life. Haven't these young folks gotten the memo that marriage does not necessarily equal happiness? You really have to question what the message of this show is with regard to young people. Is Hope a bad person because she wanted to refrain from sex until the wedding night? Was she wrong to not move up the wedding date when her fianc expressed his frustrations about her putting work before their relationship? What if the situation had been reversed? What if Liam had to delay the wedding for a big Spencer Communications deal, don't you think that Hope would have understood?

In this day and age, there has to be more understanding and give and take. Hope and Liam had not been engaged more than a few weeks and he was impatient for a wedding... Well, unless they were going to elope to Las Vegas, any real catered affair takes at least three months. Haven't they ever watched Bridezillas? And Liam did agree to wait initially, so where did he get off being so unreasonable and impatient? Was it just his hunger for sex? If so, what does that say about the man's moral fiber?

Something odd has happened to Steffy's character over the past couple of years. Remember when she was the one being pursued instead of being the pursuer? Remember when Marcus and Rick both went after her, and she had the choice of which man to date? Remember how in that lingerie ad the implication was that Steffy is every man's dream? Then why is Steffy so damn needy?

Steffy's turned into the girl who cannot get a date unless she's the one doing the asking! She wanted Oliver because he was Hope's, then she wanted Bill because he was Katie's, now she wants Liam because he's Hope's, too. Here's a thought for Steffy: join Chemistry.com or E-Harmony and sign up to find a match of your own. Stop going after other women's men!

Did you hear Steffy boast about her ability to make a commitment? Really? What proof do we have that she can be committed to anything or anyone? And Liam, he can't commit to a deadline for Eye on Fashion, but he'll be able to commit to a wife and marriage and the inevitable little children that will be coming in a couple of years? Anyone with an ounce of sense would think before they get engaged. Clearly, that's not Liam and Steffy.

What I see happening is that Steffy is desperate to win! She feels like the Logans always beat her (and her family) and this was her chance to come out on top. She beat Hope; she won Liam. Hooray for Steffy! I just have to ask the Steffy fans out there if they're really happy for her? I do like her new haircut, I'll give you that, but I want Steffy to stop being a user and start being a self-assured woman with a mind of her own.

Oh, there was something else that happened last week. The new "old" Rick came back -- actor Jacob Young. With All My Children gone, Young slipped right back into Forrester-land and was immediately caught up in the Hope-Liam drama. I don't see any romance on the horizon for him (please, let's not have him and Amber reunite!), but I like that he's fighting for his sister. That's a nice story development, especially if Thomas chooses to get involved to defend Steffy. Thomas versus Rick is a good rivalry, especially since Thomas tried to kill Rick on two occasions. Rick should be holding a big grudge!

Here are some letters from readers. Click the Feedback option at the top of the page, the email me link at the bottom, or click here.

• I've been a faithful viewer since I was in high school. I usually don't say anything when it offends me, but it's getting out of hand. The message that is being sent to young girls and women alike is not only inappropriate but insulting and absurd. The campaign that used the character Stephanie to promote the lingerie ad was disgusting. The ad read: "if you show what you got, you get what you want." Are you freaking kidding me? And the character Liam can't wait three months for his wedding date? He's got to have sex with his father's leftovers? This is sick! So, if you're a whore, you win? Is that what you want your viewers to believe? I know that the character Brooke had sex with the whole family and won, but I thought the writers would be able to think out of the box and be able to leave the stupid storylines alone. -- Elana

• I just don't get why Hope is given such a hard time! Her character is sweet and beautiful if a little clueless, but they make it seem as if a decision to abstain from sex until marriage is just the NOT the thing to do if you want to keep your man. What kind of message does that send to the millions of teens and twenty-somethings out there that watch this show? Why can't Steffy find an unattached man of her own? It's a bit unrealistic to think that a beautiful, intelligent heiress simply does not have what it takes to get and keep a man of her own. I am downright disgusted with this story line...I always think that they are teetering on the brink of incest or some other inappropriate relationship, but I still watched it, morbidly fascinated with the interplay between two families that is at times just plain bizarre. Now, I can hardly stand to watch my favorite soap (it is just plain old distressing to me) because I just can't wrap myself around the left-handed storyline. I wish they would just leave Hope and Liam alone for a minute and let me and America see a "good" girl get a "good" man and be happy... at least for a while. By the way, I abhor Steffy's character. - Adrian

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