Puncturing the myth of oppression

From the New York Times:

The researchers found that “women still do twice as much housework and child care as men” in two-parent families. But they said that total hours of work by mothers and fathers were roughly equal, when they counted paid and unpaid work.

Using this measure, the researchers found “remarkable gender equality in total workloads,” averaging nearly 65 hours a week.

But… but… men get paid for a higher percentage of the work they do, so clearly the dastardly Patriarchs are still busily oppressing away. Never mind the fact that no one else can be expected to care, let alone pay for it, if your carpet is vaccuumed or not.

The study also explains why marrying a career woman is likely to be a bad idea:

Over all, the researchers said, employed mothers have less free time and “far greater total workloads than stay-at-home mothers.” The workweek for an employed mother averages 71 hours, almost equally divided between paid and unpaid work, compared with a workweek averaging 52 hours for mothers who are not employed outside the home.

On average, the researchers said, employed mothers get somewhat less sleep and watch less television than mothers who are not employed, and they also spend less time with their husbands.

There’s a silver-lining in the career girl cloud, of course. A working wife may be more harried, irritable and sleep-deprived, but at least you won’t have to spend too much time with her prior to the likely divorce. And since she’s got a career, you probably won’t be liable for alimony either.

This also explains why a woman shouldn’t expect to have children and advance into the executive ranks. There are always exceptions, of course, but in general, you can’t put in less than 40 hours per week into your career and still move up the ladder.