Posted on 03/30/2013 6:38:35 AM PDT by Brookhaven
Husbands who help out with household chores have less sex than men in so-called "traditional" marriages where housework is done exclusively by the wife, researchers from the USA and Spain reported in the journal American Sociological Review.
In faithful relationships, the wife whose husband is involved in housework obviously has less sex too, the authors added.
This latest study contradicts most previous ones, which tended to imply that married men generally have more sex in exchange for doing housework. However, those studies did not take into account which chores the husbands did.
The researchers, all sociologists, said that their study demonstrated that sex is not a bargaining chip in marriage. Rather, it is associated with the kinds of chores each partner completes.
Married couples reported greater sexual frequency if the women did the cooking, cleaning and shopping and the men did the gardening, electrics and plumbing, car maintenance and paid the bills.
Co-author Julie Brines, professor of sociology at the University of Washington, said:
"The results show that gender still organizes quite a bit of everyday life in marriage. In particular, it seems that the gender identities husbands and wives express through the chores they do also help structure sexual behavior."
Lead author, Sabino Kornrich, warned that men should not assume from these findings that they should not become involved in traditionally female household tasks, such as shopping, cleaning or cooking. "Men who refuse to help around the house could increase conflict in their marriage and lower their wives' marital satisfaction."
The researchers gathered and examined data from a national survey of approximately 4,500 heterosexual married couples in the USA who took part in the National Survey of Families and Households. The survey, the largest to measure sexual frequency among married couples, included data from 1992 to 1994.
Brines does not believe that the division of household chores - which in this study did not include child care - and sex have changed much since 1994.
"Traditional female tasks" include shopping, cleaning, looking after the kids, and cooking According to the study, husbands and wives spent an average of 34 hours each week on traditionally female chores. The men's average age was 46, and the women's 44. The couples spent an extra 17 hours each week on "men's work".
On average, the males were involved in about one-fifth of traditionally female chores, and slightly more than half of male-type work. The researchers found that women tend to be more involved with helping out in traditionally male chores, than men do with female tasks.
The couples reported having sex approximately five times, on average, during the four weeks before the survey. In marriages where the woman carried out all the traditionally female tasks, the couples had sex 1.6 times as often, compared to couples where the man was involved in all the female chores.
Brines says she is not surprised that there was more sex among the traditional couples. "If anything surprised us, it was how robust the connection was between a traditional division of housework and sexual frequency." Brines is an expert in family and household dynamics.
The following possible explanations for their findings were ruled out by the researchers: Male coercive behavior played no role, because women reported similar satisfaction levels in their sex lives in both types of households (traditional or "modern")
In two-income households, the difference in sexual frequency was still driven by male behavior regarding traditional female chores. Also, the wife's income had no impact on sexual frequency.
The following had no impact on sexual frequency - gender ideology, religion, and happiness in marriage. Brines said:
"Marriage today isn't what it was 30 or 40 years ago, but there are some things that remain important. Sex and housework are still key aspects of sharing a life, and both are related to marital satisfaction and how spouses express their gender identity."
Recovery from Workload Influenced by Housework and Leisure Activity Balance
How rapidly and effectively male and female spouses recover from the burdens of work is probably influenced by a balance of housework time and leisure time, a study by experts from the University of Southern California reported in the Journal of Family Psychology.
Over half of all married couples in the USA are two-income households. The authors wondered whether the winner was the one who had the most help with the housework.
They found that what seems to be good for the male partner was bad for the female, but what is good for the female does not have enough of an impact on the male.
In another study involving 17,000 people in 28 countries, researchers from George Mason University found that married men did less housework than live-in boyfriends. The study was published in the Journal of Family Issues.
“Got to tell hubby that we’re doing better than we thought.”
No kidding! I think the whole article is crap. My wife and I are both working professionals, and I do most all of the housework, from vacuuming to laundry, dusting, bathrooms, etc.
She does most of the cooking and all of the coupon clipping and shopping.
I’m just a neat freak and things bother me long before she ever notices them. As for the laundry, I like my stuff done right.
Maybe the military made me focus on the details too much, but I don’t consider it a flawed arrangement or any gender-bending breaking of tradition.
Oh, and that sex schedule tells me they interviewed a bunch of lazy asses! Our weekly activity is pretty damn close to their monthly activity.
Sheesh, sounds like a bunch of fun haters all the way around!
More kids equals less time to play.
I married my wife for her brain, her heart and her guts. She is smart and can think for her self. She is very compassionate towards those who need a helping hand. She will stand up for what is right and fight against what is wrong. There are no designated chores! Last year we have been married 50 yrs. Our oldest son just turned 50.
P.S. Monday and Friday STILL works for US. (70 years old!)
23.5 years - and just today I helped with some of the spring cleaning, while doing some work in the office. (I can reach the high corners easier with the vacuum to get those evil cobwebs sucked up ;-P)
Congratulations on the 50 years!! And I sure hope I’m able to take the missus to the promise land at age 70 — twice a week!
Dishpan hands?
Ruh roh........LOL!
LOL!!!
Like I said previously...I really have to put a /s
Was looking for your #3 in there. Sometimes he does the housework out of love, so accusing “prostitution” may be misplaced. So why might a man in that scenario “get less”? ...especially when some women declare “if my man did that, I’d be giving him a lot!”
I married an immigrant, so a TRADITIONAL marriage. Can’t say the article is wrong...
“If she is working the kids come first, the job second, and he’s somewhere down in the pecking order. There just isn’t enough of you to spread around. “
NEVER...at least in my world. It’s CAREER first, then the kids and the slob in either order, then the house.
To be totally honest, the men who got the most sex are the ones who hired a cleaning service for their wives.
I swear!
I have done studies.
Did I reference reasons 1 and 2 at all (other than to dismiss them)?
I am solely referring to reason 3.
That settles it
No more laundry or dishwasher loading from me
Nowhere in this article that I can see was any breakdown or rationale provided as to why the men examined in the study did (or did not) contribute to some proportionate amount of housework. I offered 3 potential reasons… you have stated that you ‘dismissed the first two’. By ‘dismissing’, are you suggesting that of all the marriages examined in this survey, you are personally aware that absolutely none of the cases fell under categories 1 and 2? Did you do the study?
“you are personally aware that absolutely none of the cases fell under categories 1 and 2? Did you do the study?”
Are you personally aware that absolutely all of the cases fell under categories 1 and 2? Did you do the study?
You’re quick to impute “prostitution” on all cases. I’m suggesting it doesn’t apply in all cases. ...you are aware of the meaning of “suggesting”?
LOL
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