I Love Economists
Bryan Caplan writes:
When women see how little housework men do, they interpret it as “shirking” - a willful violation of basic norms of decency. Men, in turn, feel unfairly maligned by the accusation (or, perhaps more often, by the stink eye).
Who is right? Let me just throw away any future career in couples counseling, and say: Usually, men.
The evidence: Look at the typical bachelor’s apartment. Even when a man pays the full cost of cleanliness and receives the full benefit, he doesn’t do much. Why not? Because the typical man doesn’t care very much about cleanliness. When the bachelor gets married, he almost certainly starts doing more housework than he did when he was single. How can you call that shirking?
This is the kind of thing that benefits humankind. Beware the power that economics can have on your daily life!
If you can do your own laundry (honestly do I really want to handle your workout clothes? no) and not leave the kitchen a wreckage to attract every unappealing bug there is. . .good deal.
And you’re not “shirking your duties,” you are wilfully not caring about the mess. It’s the woman’s job to make you do 150% more than you usually would. Haha.
And when did I like cleaning stuff except the kitchen? *looks around room* certainly not this room!
Yeah. I think we’re pretty much on the same standard of cleanliness. My threshold for trash and clutter is somewhat higher than yours, but at the moment my room is quite a bit above mine. And it is driving me a bit up the wall.