Cook that washed report...

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• "Mommy mommy, I have an exam on Monday"
• "Honey, the lasagna you made is awful"
• "Mommy mommy, I wet my pants"
• "Honey, did you iron my white shirt?"
• "Hey girl, wanna go for a ladies night this weekend? You're so away"
• "Mommy mommy, you have a huge belly"
• "Hey Amy, you missed two gym sessions so far, is everything Ok?"
• "Hi darling, your dad is pissed off you're not visiting. Oh and you were tagged on Facebook, fix your eyebrows for God's sake!"
• "Hey honey, we're hosting a business dinner this Saturday, try to look the best that you can and clean the mess the kids made. Relying on your great cooking to make me look good!"
• "You have 1 message: Hello Amy, I want this second deliverable done by today no matter what. This is a very important client, work late if you need to"
• "Honey, can you please stop nagging? I'm watching football. Can you bring me a beer? Thanks hun!"

Well, I can proceed but I will stop! Babies, work, husband, pregnancy, cooking, housekeeping, looking great, love, family, good temper, work out, friends, social life, staying in shape, PMS, stress, exhaustiveness, ambition... Oh how strong we can be! And what jugglers we are! But is it fair?

In some societies, men and women have reached the level of understanding the concept of life sharing and what it really means. They understood how they should have same responsibilities in everything, or at least equally divided ones: like if one is financially supporting the family, how the other should focus more on the house tasks, or if both are employed, how both should get the work done together from kitchen to laundry!

Unfortunately, in some other societies, we still can find couples missing the whole point. In fact, women are said to be liberated in these societies. Before, women were housewives only, but now, they do work. They have the same capabilities in the market but, they are still doing the same work at home too, since their men are not willing to help!

So let me get it straight... Women still have to take care alone and fully of all their tasks as housewives even if they are working too? This means more responsibilities to the women and more working hours, but on the other hand, same old responsibilities to the men, same working hours. If you study the work hours per week of such couples (including office hours, kids, cooking and house tasks), you will realize that a woman is working 35 to 40% MORE per week than her man! Not even equally! Shocking right?

Is it really as a man says that it is not a 'man' thing to cook or do the dishes? Or is it just that woman is being too nice to her husband and children to the point that she is giving them more than she can handle? And when she gets exhausted, her family turns to her saying "Why you are not in shape like other women?" or "Why you don't have something interesting of your own other than us?" 

Well here is why: because these societies are based on what men need, what men think, and what men want to do. They are not based on how life cycle is built and not on how we as human are created. These societies can't be called liberated yet because this "liberation" is to the men's benefit not to the couples' good nor to healthier relationships.

Yes, look at your woman, she might be stronger, smarted and more talented than you are! But should you abuse that? Are you loving her this way or are you taking her to the edge? She is not a robot, she even has less physical capability than you have but still she is handling more than you do. Don't take her for granted, if she is doing by herself the work that you should be sharing, don't assume it is her duty to do so. No it is not!

And when it comes to the 'man' thing, as a woman I think it is less manly to have your woman work and get tired lot more than you do, and it is more manly to help her even if that includes doing some dishes or cooking some pasta.

Start sharing your life with your woman, and by sharing I mean total sharing. Trust me, if you want her to nag less, start changing your plan. She is not asking you to get pregnant, is she? ;)

PS: "Amy" is a character I have created for the context and she does not represent anyone in  particular in the real world. Thanks for the couple in the picture for posing, they were a great help and they do not relate to the context of the post in any way. No sexism is aimed by this post, only facts.

See you soon...