"What is a 'rent-a-wife?'" you may wonder upon reading about the service. "Is it a prostitute who kisses on the mouth and attends family functions?" No, dear reader, it is not. Rent-a-Wife is an L.A.-based business that lets you rent a "wife" to take care of various chores for you. It's a good idea — but, seriously, why …
While most half hour comedy tropes can be dismissed as tired rehashings of antique male/female stereotypes, one recurring sitcom and beer commercial theme bears out statistically: men still don't do their share of housework. AM I RITE LADIES? (uproarious laugh track)
Obviously this woman is not exactly Rosie the Riveter. But it's clear the model is inspired by the World War II icon — the polka-dot headband, the blue workshirt, the tough expression. But instead of putting a mothertrucking bomber together, this lady is about to do the floors. Earlier this week, Alexandra Petri wrote …
Have you thanked your vacuum cleaner yet today? (Don't. It's an inanimate object and its lack of response will leave you feeling nothing but rejected. P.S. I think my dishwasher is mad at me.) Perhaps you should (but, really, don't) because it's largely in part to the vacuum cleaner and other household appliances that…
A groundbreakingly retro new study making the rounds today purports to prove that households where the man does half of the housework experience a higher divorce rate than couples where the woman does the housework and the man spends the day doing other stuff, like reading the newspaper in an easy chair while smoking a …
I know we've all already weighed in ad nauseum on "having it all" (which, in my original weigh-in,
Would you describe yourself as a control freak? Does the idea of letting a cleaning woman into your house give you a minor panic attack? Does the thought of letting your husband organize your closet make you want to cry? Well, then you might sit on the freaky side of the control spectrum. Chances are, you are kind of…
Here's something to get excited about: Working men are doing far more chores around the house. Well actually, there's still a huge gap between the amount of time working women spend on housework compared to their male partners. We're supposed to be impressed by their effort, but when dudes start from Don Draper there's …
According to researchers who observed 30 dual-earner couples in Los Angeles with at least one child aged 8-10, women are screwed.
Breaking news from this morning's online news churn: "Career women" love housework, and will resist all attempts to share it. Sorry, women's libbers! That none of this holds up to any rigorous scrutiny will shock you.
A midwestern mother received a vacuum cleaner for Christmas, along with a surprise gift of $280K worth of drugs someone had stashed inside. First Clay Matthews's confusing roided-up-Fabio-joins-a-crappy-metal-band hairdo, and now this? Strange things are afoot in Green Bay.
After talking to 1,100 working dads, researchers at Lancaster University learned that men feel less stressed-out when they equally share housework and childcare duties. Which means they're happiest when they do all the housework, right? Say yes. [Image stacymbass/Flickr.]
Sometimes a crap Craigslist ad drips
According to the Observer, unemployed men have been reduced to poaching eggs, weighing edamame and — shocker — playing with children. But silly as their concerns may seem, they may be part of a larger recessionary turn toward housewifery.
Housework has always been a sticky spot for feminists. To some, it's a prison from which women have to free themselves. For others, including countless stay-at-home moms and professional domestic workers, it is work that has never earned adequate respect.
"35 beds to be made, 750 items of glass/china and 400 pieces of silverware to wash, 174 lbs. of food to prepare, some 250 pieces of laundry" — it added up to some 100 hours of joy per week. [PtakScienceBooks]
According to a new study, moms-to-be should get a break from housework. Women who performed "mentally unstimulating" work were 25% more likely to give birth prematurely. Good deal, but doesn't quite make up for the no alcohol thing. [Daily Mail]
• Paula Sladewski, a 26-year-old former model, was found "burned beyond recognition" in a dumpster in Miami. Police are searching for the murderer. North Miami police spokesman Neal Cuevas told CNN:
According to a study conducted at the University of Missouri, female breadwinners often go a bit overboard when it comes to nagging males about housework in order to stay connected with traditional female roles in the household.
We couldn't help but wonder:
"Swedes and Norwegians topped the table while Australian men – stereotyped for their love of beer, sport, and the great outdoors – came in last... in terms of pulling their weight around the house." Hey, I beg to differ! [Telegraph]
What? Wendy Shalit: "The feminists never talk about this, but making dinner for a man you truly admire is not the same as sweeping around a man who is marooned on the couch, drunk and watching episodes of 24." [WSJ]
A recent survey of retired Americans by AARP revealed that although retirement means less sex, a majority of retired people say they are happier having retired. However, life is not all rose gardens and happy strolls to the local Sizzler for retired couples: 21% of those surveyed said they had more tension in their…
A new study shows that chore-disparity between men and women still remains. Married ladies do, on average, seven more hours of cleaning than their hubbies. University of Michigan researchers found that being married saves men an hour of housework a week, while married women with children do even more than their fair…
"Men Who Do Housework May Get More Sex," the headline of this AP story reads. Well, duh. Anyway, a report released today by the Council on Contemporary Families states that men's contribution to housework has doubled over the past four decades. Let's hope so! Because a modern wives, as the Daily Mail so helpfully points…
A new survey from Elle and MSNBC about the monetary state of your unions shows that the vast majority of men don't care if their wives make more money than they do. Only 12% of men say that they would be resentful of a wife who out-earned them, and, according to Stephanie Coontz, director of research for the Council on …
Today we commemorated the passing of the author of the trailblazing I Hate To Cook Book — Sample passage: "Add the flour, salt, paprika and mushrooms, stir, and let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink." — by reading the rants of a bunch of women who love to cook about why,…
It's apparently unofficial International Housework Week, because like literally every media outlet has run stories on housework — it's liberating! it leads to respiratory diseases! It's a college major! it's a dying art! — so Anna's making me do a post on it. Which, well... to quote my roommate: "You? Housework? What do …
