Bringing Home the Bacon (and Nuking It, Too)
File this under “tell us something we don’t already know”: Serious academic types just spent five whole years studying two-career households in three countries—the US, Spain, and Sweden—to determine that the old Ozzy and Harriet-style, circa 1950’s division of labor is alive and well.
This research revealed that (surprise, surprise) even though most women are now employed outside the home, couples still tend to default to the traditional gender roles, with women continuing to do the lioness' share of the laundry, cooking, and other household chores. In other words, not only are we bringing home the bacon, we’re still mircrowaving it, too.
A show of hands, please: who is actually surprised by these groundbreaking findings? (Note to The Hubby: Don’t Even Think Of It.)
No, really. Does anyone’s partner-of-the-male-persuasion do any gender-bending (i.e. not just manly taking-out-the-garbage kinds of stuff) household chores—or vice versa? I won't be jealous (much).
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I would love to see more demographic data on this. Does it apply to certain sections of the country? Certain income brackets? Education levels? Cultures? Races?
I must be living in dreamy land, but in our neighborhood the dads are more likely to cook, equally share child-rearing responsbilities (including staying home with the kids when they are sick or otherwise off from school), and half the chores. However, I do live in a diverse region, and I know that culturally, that is not true across the board. I guess I'll just continue to feel grateful for a wonderful husband and so many great role models for my son (and daughter, too! :-)
Good for you, Sheryl! I do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I guess you can't really compare my situation to a normal home, though. My husband works offshore. He's home two weeks and at work two weeks so I'm a single mom while he's gone. If one of our kids becomes sick while he's home, though, they stay with him. I live in the South and grew up with my mom doing all the household duties. If my hubby began cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. it would be a little odd to me.
Sheryl,
Soraya writing from NYTimes.com.
This post you write is very interesting. You may also find this post from our blog Freakonomics to be compelling:
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/can-religion-offset-the-effects-of-child-poverty/
Perhaps your readers would agree?
Thanks!
This is not surprising! At least there are happy exceptions.
My husband grew up in a house full of boys with a mother who fully expected them to wait on her-- consequently, they are all very willing to tackle household tasks. The only problem is that no one ever taught them how to do anything *properly*... can you say, "Red sock in the whites?"
Wall-to-wall carpet: swept with a broom, dishes: washed in cool water with a soapless sponge, wet towels: folded, folded, folded again and then returned to the counter… and the list goes on.
Poor husband caught a lot of flak until he pointed out on several occasions at the in-laws that he was only doing things the way his mother always does. YIKES!
I wonder how much the gender-based division of labor is related to the gender-based threshold & tolerance for lax housekeeping?
I must confess that my husband does the bulk of the cooking, but it's mostly out of necessity, not selflessness. My cooking abilities leave much to be desired and - if you can keep a secret - I plan to remain helpless in the kitchen.