Vacuuming isn’t much fun. Doing the laundry sucks, and scrubbing the bathroom — the worst. But apparently, none of these compare to the annoyance of doing the dishes.
While many chores are shared in modern households, it’s dishwashing that your partner wishes you would do more of.
According to the study conducted by the Council on Contemporary Families, women who handled the majority of the dishwashing in heterosexual couples reported less satisfaction overall in their relationships and lower sexual satisfaction than women who had partners that washed the dishes more frequently.
“Doing the dishes is gross,” Dr. Dan Carlson, a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah and the study’s lead author told The Atlantic. And unlike other appreciated chores — a clean car, a delicious garden — doing the dishes does not inspire compliments.
Many of the least appealing and most thankless household chores have been traditionally handled by women, and in many situations, this is still the case. In today’s society, this breeds resentment, Carlson said.
Thankfully, since the early ’90s, the proportion of men sharing dishwashing duties has nearly doubled.
But for men who haven’t started helping their wives do dishes, let this be a warning. When women see another woman’s male partner handling or helping with the dishes, she’s more likely to feel worse about her own arrangement.
“The more often a task is shared, the worse it is for you not to share it,” said Carlson.
Basically, other men are making you look bad. So step up!
Also see, Here’s why you should skip washing dishes during a thunderstorm.
