Gay couples divide housework according to who’s more ‘masculine’ and more ‘feminine’, study says
By Will Stroude
Even in 2016, couples tend to assign chores by traditional conceptions of gender roles – with women tending to do more cleaning and child-rearing, while men focus on maintenance and DIY.
But what happens when the couple is same-sex? The exact same thing, apparently.
New research has shown that when both partners are of the same gender, the partner perceived as more ‘masculine’ will tend to gravitate to traditionally male tasks, while the partner seen as more ‘feminine’ will take on what’s usually seen as women’s work.
Sociologist Natasha Quadlin, of Indiana University found that gender was “by far” the biggest decider in who does what around the house when it comes to heterosexual couples.
“Surprisingly that theme extended to same-sex couples,” she added.
“People relied on information about gender to guide their beliefs about what people should be doing”.
This raises important information for the community, particularly on whether ‘masc4masc’ couples can keep a tidy home.
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