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Is non-gendered division of labour in the home not healthy?

The housework our family does is not divided based on sex (male or female) but preferance. I, as a woman, and my mom do the cooking. I, my sister, and my dad do the grocery shopping. My sister does the gas based barbequeing and my dad does the coal based barbequeing. We women take out the garbage. My dad and I do the vacuming. My whole family does the dishes. My sister does the laundry, but I put it away. My sister and my dad do the gardening. My sister and I do the snow shoveling. We all choose the chores to do around the house based on preferance of the chore. We do not look at the chores as that is feminine work and this is masculine work. You don't think we are not healthy, do you?

Update:

What resulted in this arrangement is my father's sustained workplace physical injury. He was a bricklayer's assistant. His manly attitude of "I am a strong man and I can do it" and his timidity allowed his supervisor to overwork him. I do not think we have emasculated him by allowing him to perform light duties around the house. The thing is he does not have vacum, wash the dishes, and do yard work. The yard work he really enjoys as he used to be in the gardening business before we came to Canada. My mom used to work along his side. I used to work in a factory where I performed the same duties as male co-worker. Having this experience of heavy lifting on the job, I refuse to go home and play the role of feminity. The question is deceptive because female duties and masculine duties in the home is just role playing. And like in theatre, society gave us the script, but some actors redefine their roles.

10 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    That's what we do in my household. It works out well because I love to cook but I hate to clean, and my husband can't cook but enjoys cleaning.

  • 1 decade ago

    Chore division comes down to whoever is bothered the most by the current situation. If one person cannot stand the bathroom to be as dirty as it is, then it is up to that person to clean it. If one person sees dirt long before the other person, then they should vacuum it (don't ask the other to clean what they can't see). If the water dripping from the roof gutter drives one person nuts but not the other, then they should fix it.

    Always keep in mind, nothing in life is 50/50, the person you live with is doing far more than you realize, and nobody likes a nag.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    We don't have gender-based chores at my house either. We both do maintainence on the cars, he cooks more than I because he likes to, I do the sewing and mending because I have better eyesight for delicate work, and we both do the yardwork. We both work full-time and just do the chores as they need to be done. Of course we both do the cleaning, laundry, and taking out the garbage. Yes, it's healthy. Note: I'm nearsighted, so I do the sewing, it's not because of gender.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    reasons gender division labour home

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  • Nic
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Sounds pretty much like my house....except for anything to do with cars. That's my husbands and if anyone asks I say, "ew...that's man work! I'm not getting grease under my fingernails." Truth is I just don't know much about cars and if I did the brakes someone would die. I suppose if I was interested he'd show me but I'm just as happy leaving that one to him and I do the gardening which he hates.

  • 1 decade ago

    That sounds very healthy to me.....this is the set up my husband and I have......I do things I know he hates doing regardless of whether society view it as a masculine or feminine role and vice versa.

  • 1 decade ago

    Who does what chores in a household should be determined be the members of that household.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    If it works for your family, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. At my house, we pretty much do the same. I can't imagine what could be unhealthy about that.

  • 1 decade ago

    This is much healthier than assigning chores based strictly on sex. When everyone does what they want, everyone is happy. Very simple.

  • 1 decade ago

    It sounds like an ideal set-up to me.

    Anyone who thinks assigning household tasks to people based on whether their reproductive equipment is inside or outside the body is not terribly bright.

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