'Useless men' a woman's myth

By Elizabeth Heathcote  on Tuesday 24 November 2009

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It is a favourite topic of conversation among working mothers – how their men don't pull their weight domestically.

But according to new research, it may be a myth women tell each other in order to feel more in control at home.

Dr Rebecca Meisenbach, an American academic, interviewed 15,000 female breadwinners about how they felt about their roles at home and work.

She concluded that women struggle with a sense of guilt about working, and the compromises it brings to their roles as mother and wife.

They criticise the abilities of their men at home in order to feel more feminine, she says.

'Working women who provide the majority of the household's income to the family continue to articulate themselves as the ones who 'see' household messes and needs as a way to retain claims to an element of a traditional feminine identity,' Dr Meisenbach told the Observer.

'By highlighting stories of how men have to be told or asked to do specific chores in the home, these female breadwinners are making sure they still fit gender boundaries of a wife as someone who manages the home and children.

'By directing the housework done by their husbands, they maintain a sense of control over the traditionally feminine sphere of the home,' she said

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Tuesday 24 November 2009

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they're probably useless because they've been emasculated to such an extent that they feel they have to fulfill that role.
Imagine the reverse...a woman constantly being belittled by a man who supposedly loved her. Where is the incentive for this woman to rise up and become someone that this man can consider equal, could they ever be good enough in their eyes?
Humans are human wether they are male or female. If you tell someone enough times that they're useless, eventually they will believe you.
Comment by anon on December 01 13:47

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