Things work a little differently around here than they do in most households. My husband does all the cooking, and I’m the handy”man.” Traditional gender roles have no place in our home and that works just fine for us.
He cooks because cooking is cathartic for him; a way of unwinding after a hard day at work. He creates magnificent, technically demanding, beautifully plated meals on weeknights. My go-to meal if it’s my turn to cook is baked beans on toast or tortellini from the freezer. Not exactly fine dining.
I’m an engineer who spent a lot of my childhood fixing thing with my dad, took drafting, wood shop and metal shop at school and loves nothing more than pushing buttons or taking things apart. On the other hand, my husband was raised by a single mom who worked two jobs so he didn’t have the opportunity to learn basic “man” skills.
Our activities this afternoon exemplify our relationship. I’ll tally up the “man” points as we go along.
Put together the new BBQ: +15
…but read the manual: -5
…while sitting on a pink stool: -1
…while drinking beer: +5
…that I brewed myself: +15
Total: +29 “man” points
Here’s my husband’s talley:
Went grocery shopping: -1
…for fancy veggies: -2
…and meat: +5
…which he sliced and marinated in a homemade sauce: -2
…while drinking wine instead of beer: -5
…and watching car racing: +5
…then created fire and BBQ’d a delicious dinner: +10 points
Total: +10 “man” points
Despite his appalling showing in the “man” points stakes, he’s still the man I love most. Screw gender roles. We’re partners. We work well together and our individuals strengths make us a damn good team. Thank goodness we live in 2010 where I can go to work and not have to cook dinner. Because if I were expected to conform to traditional gender roles, we’d both starve.
slosydney 