On Nodoka's treatment of Genma:

Since Ranma 1/2 is a satire, it seems that Genma, being around all the
time, and not at a steady job like he should be, is probably thought
of by Nodoka as "sodai gomi". ("giant garbage" (sodai gomi), is slang
for a retired husband." It is also "the big, coarse, hard-to-dispose-of
junk like broken refrigerators." This is because many Japanese women
find that a husband who is around the house all the time is just in
her way, and he's totally useless around the home - he doesn't help
her with her work, and all he does is sit around moping aimlessly. A
saying is "teishu wa jobu de rusu ga ii" - "husbands should be healthy
and absent." So, Nodoka doesn't really WANT Genma back, being a pile
of garbage by being around her, ordering her to do this and that for
him. She only wants her son back ... So this is a reason on why she
ignores Genma like she does ... maybe she loved him when he was young,
and when he was capable of getting a job to support her ... But after
so many years alone, she no longer wants that stability, nor the man
who left her for a 10 year (or more) training trip. She doesn't want
sodai gomi around!

Quotes from:

Cherry, Kittredge. Womansword. (Japan: Kondansha International Ltd, 1987)

Kun-chan...
--
************************************
* http://www.ecr.mu.oz.au/~caseawr *
*++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++*
* High Priestess of Ryouga         *
************************************