h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good for you Wowbagger. I'm always privately championing the cause of male housework as I see nothing inherently gendered about it - if looked at from a military perspective it's rather masculine. There is a certain breed of male who thinks it manly to let his wife organise his life but that strikes me as the rationale of a little boy following mummy around. How I love men's departments in shops: you see these poor lost souls tentatively picking up a shirt or tie for mummy's approval only to have her bark 'You're not wearing that!'. Meekly they return it to the shelf. A work colleague of mine had her husband ring her up from a shop to see if the trousers he was looking at were okay.
'What colour are they?'
'Sort of trouser coloured.'
I now plan to use that as a euphemism for things I'm not sure about.

But I ramble. Enough. A man and woman taking responsibility for their family can only be lauded.

spimc

'Sort of trouser coloured'?
BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA

That's fantastic!

I just love the line '...so you're house trained then?' (with that slight hint of amusement to it). It, out of all the lines in the cartoon, is the one I've heard the most. It seems to imply that men are messy and women are neat by nature. I've often thought that it's one of the most appalling generalisations known to society. The thing is... we're BOTH messy and BOTH neat, when we want to be .

As for shopping - we have a simple solution - we don't go clothes shopping with each other, unless invited. Invitations have been known to be rejected too, as we're both the appalling shoppers known to society as well.

Something can only be truly manly if there is an inherent risk of death involved. People who think tidying up isn't manly obviously haven't closed their eyes and walked into a room where children have played unattended for longer than five minutes. And prolonged exposure to young children can lead to insanity. Being a househusband is considerably more manly, and much less safe, than being a fireman, an international man of mystery or a stunt florist.

More power to you, sir.

-- David, Industrial Strength Surrealist

There's nothing wrong with men doing housework or looking after kids. If we all want an equal society people should be able to take on any roles they like...

Frankie