Again, I don't care who stays home and who goes to work. Sometimes it's better for the guy to stay home or for the girl to stay home. But BOTH cannot stay home just as BOTH probably should not be working.
But hey, don't listen to me or Adam Smith about the division of labor. Listen to your divorce lawyer.
While there may be some degree of causation, such as tingles lost when looking at the betatized husband, I think this is more a case of correlation. That is to say, couples less likely to follow the traditional division of labor are also less likely to take a traditional approach to the sanctity of marriage.
ReplyDeleteWell, obvious, not?
ReplyDeleteBesides if you start out equal, having a kid makes you realize you are not equal.
Chris,
ReplyDelete"Not equal" or just "different"? Not the same thing.
There's probably a lot to Anon's correlation theory.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm inclined to agree at least partially with the first theory in the original article, that by the simple act of deliberately making a point of splitting the housework equally, it threatens to turn every instance of housework into a point of contention.
Housework consists of a variety of tasks. For each possible task there are differing notions of how often it should be done, how thoroughly it should be done, and what 'weight' it should be given with respect to what other task(s) it is 'equal' to. All of this becomes fuel for bickering about who's not doing their fair share.
Add this to the numbers of women who follow the Lysistrata school of male behavior modification and it's a recipe for stress and misery.
No, it's NOT "Ignoring The Division of Labor" that causes divorce --
ReplyDeleteIt's GETTING MARRIED nowadays...that's what causes divorce!