Domestic Parity? Ha!
Dads still cop out on tasks at home, leaving moms to serve as both household CEO and chief bottle washer. The result? Moms are sicker, sadder, and more stressed out
When my husband and I married, we had no idea how much sexism would infiltrate our relationship. We prided ourselves on being a modern egalitarian couple. But like many others, our arrangement became strained after we became parents.
The best way I can describe it is like an episode from the ABC sitcom Splitting Up Together — a series where a divorced couple decides to continue living in the same house together for the sake of the children.
On his way out the front door, the dad encounters the mom, and says, “I was just going for a quick run before work.” The mom, carrying a basket of dirty clothes, replies, “Cool. I was just going to do the laundry, vacuum, plunge the upstairs toilet, call a guy about the broken sprinkler, go to work, come home, and make dinner.”
The dad hesitates for a moment and then replies breezily, “Cool! What’s for dinner?”
Sigh. If you’re a woman, this sketch is only half-funny. In homes all over the world, it’s all too real.
