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UK: 'Myth' of Mr Useless: Why women breadwinners exaggerate partner's faults

Submitted by anthony on Mon, 2009-11-23 18:56.

Article here. Excerpt:

"Working women have long complained that their man doesn't pull his weight on household chores.

But his lack of effort on the domestic front could actually be a myth created by his partner, researchers have found.

According to a major study, female breadwinners exaggerate their partner's uselessness around the home because they feel guilty about devoting too much time to their career, and not enough to their role of wife and mother.

By nagging their man over his alleged shortcomings, women feel more feminine because they can control the traditionally female role of maintaining the home and family, experts say.

'Working women who provide the majority of the household's income continue to articulate themselves as the ones who "see" household messes and needs as a way to retain claim to an element of traditional female identity,' said Dr Rebecca Meisenbach, professor of communication at Missouri University.'
...
Professor Janet Reibstein, a psychologist and author, said: 'Our respect for our partner rests on whether they are fulfilling their gender expectations.

'Higher-earning women struggle to respect their low-paid men because social prejudice says that a man should keep his woman.'"

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call me an old fogey

Submitted by axolotl on Mon, 2009-11-23 23:06.

"'Our respect for our partner rests on whether they are fulfilling their gender expectations."

They aren't so much 'societal expectations' as they are natural-feeling roles. The fact is that most women feel more comfortable in the domestic sphere than in careers. The practice of going against the grain by cajoling women into working, will one day be viewed as a way that women have been oppressed. Sigh.

-ax

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