In 2011, 83 percent of women and only 65 percent of men said that they spent time doing household chores, according to Time Magazine.
In 2011, 83 percent of women and only 65 percent of men said that they spent time doing household chores, according to Time Magazine. These numbers were extremely similar in 2003. Although some progress is being made, expectations from society aren't shifting fast enough, and plenty of women find themselves coming home and continuing to work by making dinner, taking care of children, cleaning the house and other chores.
Even though women have entered the workplace, they're still expected to continue homemaking. And while this may not be the case in every home, the “third shift” is endlessly tiring for working women.
The “third shift” is the idea that working women in heterosexual relationships are often still expected to carry on housework and childcare duties after their day at work is done. The name comes from the idea that mentally dealing with the burden of both worlds is the third shift, and the first two are the physical shifts—from work, to home. If society is so advanced from where it was, why are we seeing these trends?
The reason is that our society still values women as the primary caretakers of children in heterosexual relationships. While this is slowly changing as well, with many households boasting couples who share the work more equally, housework can be seen as a feminine thing to do, which leads to men avoiding it out of fear of being perceived as less masculine. This is because of the unnecessary pressure culture places on men to be overtly masculine.
Heterosexual couples could learn something from gay and lesbian couples, who tend to share work more evenly. Instead of having stereotypes and assumptions about who is going to do what, these couples must sit down and figure out who is going to do which chores. While this is not true for every such household, the average for sharing chores is much higher than in households with heterosexual couples.
It seems to me that this approach would not only be helpful for the overworked women in relationships, but it would also help to fight against gender roles and stereotypes about what each person does in the household based on gender. Instead of assuming, for example, that the man is going to mow the lawn, and the woman will cook dinner and dust, we should take the time to sit down and figure out how often something needs done, and who will do it.
Eventually, we need to face the fact that this is not sustainable living. We need to reevaluate our choices and look at how we view ourselves, and see how much of that is dictated by what society tells us to be.
Bailey Breece is junior studying English and German. Email her at bb463711@ohio.edu
