Hard hitting analysis from the Christian Broadcasting Network...

[brooklynite]

Men Who Do Housework Have Happier Marriages
By Linda S. Mintle, Ph.D.

Rev up the vacuum cleaner! Dr. Linda shares how doing a little around the house can help your marriage.

Dr. Linda Helps - Rev up the vacuum cleaning. Pull out the dust cloth and get to work men. You’ll have a happier, less lonely, and more involved marriage than men who don’t help around the house. Housewives all over America are applauding this finding. Finally, research that makes sense! Does it sound too good to be true?

Marital researcher John Gottman studied men who did housework and found them to not only be happier in their marriages, but also have lower heart rates and better health. In addition, these men were less stressed and less likely to be sick in the four years following the initial research meeting.

I wish I could tell you that housework has curative powers -- that doing housework is the key to fabulous relationships. This certainly would liberate a lot of women and encourage men to share in the exciting work of cleaning, but it isn’t housework that cures troubled marriages.

Even though doing housework was tested as a separate factor in the marital study, housework really was not the issue. The husband who does housework tends to be a mutual and supportive partner as well. This mutuality and support evidenced in a life task like housework. Spouses who act in mutual and supportive ways have good marriages. They also enjoy physical benefit.

So the important thing to do is to engage in mutual and supportive acts with your spouse. Sharing in housework is definitely seen as supportive to most women!

Men, the next time you see your wives struggle to keep up with all the housework, turn off that football game. Pull out that toilet bowl cleaner, pat yourselves on the back, and say, “I’ll be less lonely, less stressed, and less likely to be sick if I scrub this commode.” Your wives will give you a big smile and say, “Now there’s the man I’m glad I married!”

http://www.cbn.com/LivingTheLife/Features/DrLindaHelps/MenHousework.asp
- - -
Just out of curiosity, let's see how the "family values" crowd at FR is reacting...

"I'd suggest that if the wife would give up something more than just a smile we'd see a whole lot of cleaning going on!"

"Yeah...forget about THE one day of the week your team is playing, take off your football jersey and put on your pink apron and tiara instead."

"I wonder if marriages are happier if the wife helps with the mowing, snow shoveling, painting, plumbing, carpentry, wiring, ...?"

"Well, let's see. I work from 6:00am to 9:00pm Monday - Saturday just to maintain the lafe my wife wants to live. I guess I can start doing the housework on Sundays, but will that leave any time to enjoy my "happier" marriage?"

Looks like the "defense of marriage" is in safe hands...

[Tamarin]

1. My husband was washing a large sliding glass door

and never looked hotter to me, LOL.

[elehhhhna]

16. I believe it.

Hubs isn't much on housework, but he stayed home with our girls when they were babies and did a FAB job. His name is Arthur--so his nicknames have ranged from 'Artha Stewart to Chef-Boy-Artie to "The Best Childcare We Can't Afford".

Now that you mention it, it WAS sorta sexy watching him steam veggies for my babies.

[Tamarin]

19. LOL, I understand.

My stepson and his wife share chores and childcare and he is such a good father. When I was growing up we were still the *be seen but not heard* generation when it came to childcare and most of us barely knew our fathers.

[Yollam]

2. Whatever.

I do more than half the housework, and for me, the fact that my wife takes it for granted is a major point of resentment for me. But if I didn't do it, the house would be a pigsty and the kids wouldn't eat on time, so I do it.

Fellas, don't marry an "artist".

[NewWaveChick1981]

9. I'm married to an artist, and the same goes for

women---if you want a clean house, DON'T marry an artist! LOL It's up to me to clean anything, and I keep "my" areas of the house clean and I keep the common areas clean. However, hubby's bathroom (GROSS!!!!) only gets clean if I decide to do it, and I keep out of there as much as I possibly can. (Translation: his bathroom might get clean twice a year if it's lucky.)

Yeah, hubby would look MUCH hotter scrubbing a toilet bowl than just sitting on the sofa watching tv.... LOL :D

[sarcasmo]

11. Do we have the same wife? LMFAO.

When I met my wife she had a maid coming to her apartment once a week. Now that we own a home I do all the cleaning. I thought that my wife was the only one like that, LMFAO.

[progressivebydesign]

20. Honey? Is that you?

Sorry... I had a scary moment when I thought my dear husband had penned that post! :hide: Especially that "artist" comment. Lucky my husband is a good natured guy that doesn't care too much about clean laundry.

[rkc3]

3. Didn't women's liberation cause the terrorists to attack America?

Has Jerry Falwell sounded off on this article yet? I'm sure he would have a few things to say to Dr. Mintle.

[tonkatoy57]

4. I must be the exception that proves the rule.

I do all our housecleaning and well as the laundry, cooking, yard work, and home repairs.

My wife is not appreciative. She simply sees it as her due.

[brooklynite]

6. Its all a matter of balance and understanding

I do the cooking, laundry and ironing. My wife does the home repairs. Neither of us takes the other for granted.

[rkc3]

7. I think the exception is the rule.

[Sparkman]

10. If your wife has the big pay check, and you are secure in your manhood...

fuck the opinions of others...i always say. Steam vegetables, don't microwave Stoufers.
impetuous is a virtue. persevere

[Yollam]

14. Manhood, shmanhood.

I don't care about abstract ideas like that. The fact that the house would be condemned for being unsanitary if I didn't clean is my reason for doing it.

My wife has a blind eye for dirt and messes. She'd just let it sit forever.

[Bridget Burke]

22. Perhaps you should be glad your wife has a "blind eye"....

You may well be a beneficiary.

[tonkatoy57]

15. It's not about gender issues.

It's about power imbalances.

My wife makes more than twice as much as i do, so doing all the housework, laundry, meal preparation, yard work, and home repairs is my punishment for not making enough money.

I'm basically a 1950's housewife, except for the fact that I have a full time job.

If there were appreciation expressed for my shining toilets, fresh smelling laundry, and mouth watering creations fresh from the oven....eh, I could live with it.

If appreciation was expressed by the occasional recognition of what I do, that would be great. If appreciation was expressed by not trashing the house by leaving junk strewn all over and not putting things away, that would be great as well. It's just the expectation that it will be done that gets me. It's the, "Oh, I have friends coming over tomorrow after dinner. Please make sure you clean the bathrooms and that the house is picked up", that drives me up the wall.

[Yollam]

21. Some of your power imbalance is in your mind.

Sounds like you could assert yourself and demand a bit more respect, IMO (not that I'm one to lecture). She may pull down the G's, but if you didn't do it, she's have to pay someone else less trustworthy a pretty penny to do it. Whether it's a male of female doing the housework, that person deserves as much credit for keeping the house functioning as the one who pays the mortgage on it.

In my house, my wife doesn't issue orders like that, she just doesn't care. If I went on strike and the laundry and dishes piled up, I wonder iff she would even care...

[prodigal_green]

5. well, the good news about the freepers is

They'll die of heart attacks and strokes earlier. Good news all around I'd say.

[madrchsod]

8. i`ve been doing that this for

49 years...my sisters told me when i was 10 that i`d better learn to clean,cook,iron,and sew for myself cause they were not going to do it for me...my wife and i share the work....

[madrchsod]

12. well i can`t pass this up

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0217062contract1.html
Sicko Marriage Contract One For The Ages - February 17, 2006

it -is- pretty sick......makes you wonder who raised this guy

[Mist]

18. I stopped reading after the first "clause":

Pubic hair must be no longer than 1/3". Fortunately, I'm in a good mood this morning so I just laughed, but yeah, this guy's a sick puppy.

[Lochloosa]

23. Ok..this deserves it's own thread.

I think I'll print this one out and see if my wife will sign it.

[unblock]

13. bottom line is that "mutual and supportive" is a two-way street

men doing housework may be evidence that they're doing their part, but it doesn't say anything about whether their wives are doing theirs.

if the conclusion is two-sided, i'd prefer to see a study that isn't one-sided.

[hfojvt]

17. uh oh

I was gonna make the same point as this guy:
"I wonder if marriages are happier if the wife helps with the mowing, snow shoveling, painting, plumbing, carpentry, wiring, ...?"

Except that wiring and carpentry are not weekly chores, and my mom did most of the painting. The elder son, otherwise known as me, did most of the mowing and lots of the shovelling. Plumbing was like a once every five years thing, although dad regularly put salt in the water softener for about a decade.

I feel sorry for anybody working six 15 hour days (must include a long commute) but how does that person find time to post on the web?