# do you do the dish and other "women work" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745 "2006-05-22T13:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Minotaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/1 "2006-05-22T13:59:18Z")
do you do the dish and other “women work” like washing the floor etc ? I can’t remember the last time i did the dish or washed a floor I consides this to be womens work and not something a real man do far more men do housework now than 15-20 years ago, but it’s still womens domain and i think it should be like that ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/2 "2006-05-22T14:02:16Z")
If you see my woman with a black eye. Yew, knowed its b’cuz she aint been doing her house work… ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/3 "2006-05-22T14:10:16Z")
Nope, I don’t do that kind of stuff. Well, maybe once a weekend I manage to empty the dishwasher and my husband pats me on the head for actually doing housework at all. But I bring him bonbons! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/4 "2006-05-22T14:10:45Z")
So…what’s men’s work? Is there any? Or do men get off scot-free? Sad thing is, you’ll probably get a woman like that, too…who’s willing to hop when you say so. In my household, it’s just me and my SO. We both work full-time. We both have to eat. And so we have a deal - who ever cooks doesn’t have to wash the dishes. And the work is work - never heard of work caring who did it, so long as it got done. Same with the other work…work is divided in our household, since we are a team. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/5 "2006-05-22T14:18:40Z")
> [@Minotaurus](#): > > I can’t remember the last time i did the dish or washed a floor Poor lonely dish. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/6 "2006-05-22T14:19:22Z")
> [@Minotaurus](#): > > do you do the dish and other “women work” like washing the floor etc ? > > I can’t remember the last time i did the dish or washed a floor > > I consides this to be womens work and not something a real man do > > far more men do housework now than 15-20 years ago, but it’s still womens domain and i think it should be like that Wow - I know this mindset is still out there and prevalent, but I still find it surprising. I don’t consider myself a feminist - in fact I really don’t like that type of aggressive mindset - but I find this basic “women’s work” mindset to be bullshit. Sorry if this is the wrong forum to state that, but really. House work is house work - if you want to a clean house, do your share - I don’t care what gender, age, color, sexual preference, whatever. I do most of the cooking in the house, scoop the cats’ litter box, make the kids’ lunch for school, oversee homework - whatever it takes. I help with cleaning, but my wife does more of it for very practical reasons - it is easier to do when everybody is out of the house, and she prefers to do it and leave the cooking to me so it is a fair trade… ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/7 "2006-05-22T14:25:59Z")
> [@Minotaurus](#): > > do you do the dish and other “women work” like washing the floor etc ? > > I can’t remember the last time i did the dish or washed a floor > > I consides this to be womens work and not something a real man do > > far more men do housework now than 15-20 years ago, but it’s still womens domain and i think it should be like that Do you consider spelling, grammar and punctuation women’s work also? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/8 "2006-05-22T14:31:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Wow - I know this mindset is still out there and prevalent, but I still find it surprising. See, you apparently haven’t won a couple of mil lately, because then you get to abandon your work ethic and sense of obligation. Who knew they were such terrific burdens. ---
**Author:** ![Minotaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/9 "2006-05-22T14:32:38Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > So…what’s men’s work? Is there any? Or do men get off scot-free? let’s face it - housework isn’t exactly the kind of job that men do that often, mostly because i lays in our genes ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/10 "2006-05-22T14:33:09Z")
I wash the dishes that are too big to fit in the dishwasher, but that’s only because my husband hates washing dishes. So he’ll clean the toilets and vacuum instead. 🙂 Neither one of us is delighted by the chores that create a clean and pleasant home, with clean clothes, dishes, floors, sheets, but we both do the housework. We both work full-time, we both make the house dirty, we both do the cleaning. My husband does the majority of the grocery-shopping, too. My husband points out that if he lived on his own, he’d have to run laundry, do dishes, pick up milk, vacuum, and so on, so why should he not share these chores with his wife? As he says, it’s his house too, therefore, these are also his obligations. Should I ever work part-time or not at all outside the house, we’d probably shuffle the burden a bit, but for now, **My husband is a real man, and he does housework.** ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/11 "2006-05-22T14:36:44Z")
I am an adult. I do things because they need to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/12 "2006-05-22T14:40:16Z")
> [@Minotaurus](#): > > let’s face it - housework isn’t exactly the kind of job that men do that often, mostly because i lays in our genes Hey you! Stop laying in my genes! 😃 Anyhow, in my house (three guys living together) I tend to do most of the kitchen cleaning (dishes, floor, countertops, garbage), one of our room mates most of the living room chores and big-meal cooking, and the other one tends to eat meals with us less often. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/13 "2006-05-22T14:44:34Z")
I both cook and do the dishes. And we don’t have a dishwasher (it’s a very old house). What’s the big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/14 "2006-05-22T14:44:54Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Poor lonely dish. Burn!!! Don’t do that to me, **jali**! I almost hurt myself keeping myself from laughing out loud on that. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/15 "2006-05-22T14:45:52Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > If you see my woman with a black eye. Yew, knowed its b’cuz she aint been doing her house work… Last time my woman had a black guy she didn’t have time to do the housework. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/16 "2006-05-22T14:48:35Z")
It’s kind of silly and selfish for a man not to help out with things like doing dishes, washing the floors, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, etc. I don’t mind doing it. I even do my own laundry from time to time. What’s the point of refusing to do it? How is that helping anything? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/17 "2006-05-22T14:51:45Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Poor lonely dish. I thought it was a dance. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/18 "2006-05-22T14:54:02Z")
When I lived alone, I did the dishes, because I wanted to have clean dishes. I did the laundry because I wanted to have clean clothes to wear, and scrubbed the bathroom floor and fixtures because I wanted a clean bathroom. Now married, I admit that Mrs. Bricker does the lion’s share of that work, although we do have a part-time maid (who is also female, for what it’s worth). But the division of labor did not come about because it’s womens’ work – Mrs. Bricker doesn’t have a full-time go-to-work job, and I do. Because she’s the one at home, it makes sense for her to handle most of the housework. She does work – she does freelance translation. Usually, she works a couple hours a day, from home. A few months ago, she got a huge project that required her to work pretty much non-stop for a couple of weeks… and so I took over the household chores. Because it made sense for me to handle it under those circumstances. So in the Bricker household, it’s not a matter of “women’s work” or “men’s work” – it’s a matter of adults doing the work that needs to be done in a way that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/19 "2006-05-22T14:54:38Z")
> [@Minotaurus](#): > > let’s face it - housework isn’t exactly the kind of job that men do that often, mostly because i lays in our genes Yeah, try using that one on the wife sometime and let us know how that works out. Sorry, I can’t do the laundry. It’s genetic. Then again, considering you can’t remember the last time you did “women’s work”, and you think that’s the way things _should be_, I guess you have someone around who’s doing it for you. I actually find that very, very sad. What happens when Mom dies, or the wife leaves you? Wallowing in your own filth, but glad that you’ve lived a good _manly_ life? Go grunt in the backyard and kill something for supper, why don’t you? I can’t believe that this caveman mentality still exists. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745/20 "2006-05-22T14:59:25Z")
As a single man basically if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. … so basically it doesn’t get done. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-the-dish-and-other-women-work/357745.md?page=2)