Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 10, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba Inside Story Winnipeg free press january who Cooks who does the dishes changes experts predict so selfless supernal by Heather Mclaughlin free press correspondent economic pressures Are eroding the superwoman syndrome of the 80s and Are bound to Force More equitable Divi Sion of housework in the so Cial experts although figures from statistics Canada show that women still do the bulk of the some social observers say that economic factors and the pressures of modern life Are going to Force that to Denise president of the Winnipeg Branch of the Manitoba association of Home said the research May not yet be there but she knows whats happening in her own Circle of who Heads the 275member says women have be come disillusioned with what she terms the chatelaine syn Koss describes the typical chatelaine As someone married or who has struggled to raise four children of her adopted 10 More while going Back to school and been a pillar of the Shes the kind of woman who never sleeps and never has time to take a Long hot Bath because Shes so Busy doing All those things to help Koss but that selfless superwoman of the 80s has gone by the Koss i think people just ran out of in she men and women cant do everything and they cant be every there working harder for less and there becoming More selective about whats really import she in the households in familiar men and women feel More wives largely responsible for housework in dual earner families with both spouses employed 1990 husband Only or mostly 10 equally 10 source statistics 1990 general social Survey women still carrying Load a1 comfortable doing what they want to Koss in one Koss said the woman likes to work with her hands and do she builds and her husband does More of the cooking than she does and they feel quite comfortable with Ernie president of the Manitoba association of social workers and the Manitoba Institute of registered social said men Are gradually developing More Domestic economic circumstances have had a direct bearing on this he unemployed fathers Are stay ing Home As House for that can cause prob both economically and for men defining their place in the Fame theres a difference in Peoples capacities to be Able to handle those different social Masiowski boys now take Home economics courses and once they Are Given permission to step out of Macho roles change will he but Masiowski admitted Hes probably about two generations be he said his wife still runs the household in the sense that Shes the main that is still in her he women often feel a lot of ambivalence and guilt if they fail to do the bulk of work within the he a husband can often play on the wife guilt and opt Masiowski pointed some wives and mothers try to do All the things their own motors did but forget that their mothers didst have a 40hour work week outside the a shift in expectations away from spouses operating in sex defined roles is a healthy and results in a More realistic Shar ing of the workload in Masiowski Marian whose Manitoba women Institute represents about provincial about 39 per cent of whom live on the said economic situations Are having an Impact on sex it might be the wife it might be the husband she were sort of going with the flow in that whoever available does whats University of Manitoba sociology professor Cheryl albas said theres a whole new crop of professional women who Are simply demanding that their husbands share equal time with Irons and Wash ing primary responsibility for work around the House among couples aged 1544 with children under age wife husband and Only Only household chore and Type of couple meal preparation both Lull time 100 72 13 wife 100 86 7 husband full time 100 89 5 meal cleanup both full time 100 59 16 wife 100 72 9 husband full time 100 78 7 cleaning and laundry both full time 100 74 7 wife 100 86 4 husband full time 100 86 4 House maintenance and outside work both full time 100 7 79 wife 100 9 80 husband full time 100 8 77 12 6 5 15 10 8 13 6 7 1 May not add to 100 due to rounding and the exclusion of not stated 2 someone other than the wife or husband has primary responsibility for the chore 3 in this Type of the husband works full time source statistics 1990 general soda Survey Phil free press Debbie and Robert Mackinnon share household its probably a 6040 split and she takes the Robert tossing Domestic tradition out with the weekly trash by Heather Mclaughlin free press correspondent s sociologists Sayball families create their own two Manitoba couples say Treyve worked hard to come up with a More equitable division of labor that suits their Murielle Bugera and her husband Larry share Home maintenance on their 520hectare Grain farm at Pierr Jolys out of a clerk for the Manitoba crop insurance has worked since she and Larry married 15 years has been a councillor for the Rural municipality of de Salaberry for the past 11 the couple Are bucking the traditional division of farm Man in the woman in the Garden and order to balance each others activities outside the from mid october to March when Hes not planting or harvesting his Grain Larry basically runs the House and cares for their youngest their neat Bungalow is a casual Home with four children bringing it to in the Winter ill have lunch and supper ready because i dont have that much to so there Are Small chores that i can do during the Larry he also does the vacuuming and dishes and some of the i think a lot of things just came Murielle Larry just picked up what he Felt that he could instead of nagging he would just up and do although he was raised by a traditional ukrainian Mother who did All of the Larry had to learn to do his own cooking and mending when he moved away from with a work foray who also volunteers on a school parents a Golf committee and a farm women Larry said he realized he was going to have to pitch in around the Murielle says Shes tried to encourage her husband to share household duties by not being Picky with what he i want to encourage him to do anything he she i need to feel needed to do All the household chores and the cooking and for my Job is in involved in a lot of committees and i need to feel that i can get away from the House and take care of these things without worrying about what condition the House is and these two Are making a conscious Effort to instil similar egalitarian notions in their their Ages 12 and Are encouraged to Cook and bake and tidy up after said cause we dont want to do Larry Dave free press when Hes not in the Fields in Bugera keeps House and cares for daughter with the four and our Busy we cant keep on picking up after Murielle i think it helps a lot that they see Larry doing a lot of you dont often hear them saying to each other that your Many farm couples still cling to a stereotyped division of Domestic where the men will Only do the outside Murielle but part of that can be blamed on the attitude of she some of them dont really want their husbands to do any of for if Larry want i would find it very difficult to work every Little thing adds Winni Eggers Debbie and Robert Mackinnon Are a dual income couple who have also divided household duties along Lessith untraditional works full time As a dental hygienist while Robert is employed full time As a Public health inspector in the cites housing the couple have a House and two dogs to care for so Domestic chores Are shared she still does i than i said its probably a 6040 split and she takes the Robert is the Cook in the raised by a single Parent All of the children in his family had to do when he was he could Cook a full meal with All the peas and Yorkshire Debbie Home was the her Mother did she and her Sisters treated the whole Domestic scene with id much prefer to be working outside than in the said at least the mus Bedone doing dishes and making joint if one of us want doing our the other person would be working until eight or nine Oclock at night to try to keep things on an even said it would be different if one of us was staying ;