Letter: Gender myths
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE PERENNIAL story of the working man and the full-time mother swapping jobs ("How my other half lives", Real Life, 12 September) is monotonously familiar to readers of women's magazines. The comic picture of the man in a pinny with his monumental inability to perform the most basic of domestic tasks is always complemented by the woman's innate ability to do the same, and to breeze through a middle-class man's job that would normally require substantial training.
The job is usually complete with secretary, long lunches, important deals with clients, and frequent rounds of golf. The man regularly and amusingly returns from the supermarket with cans of beer instead of some essential household product.
The reader is left in no doubt as to where the man and the women are best deployed. It would be absurd to start quoting figures about the tiny numbers of employees who have long lunches, the substantial number of men who shop regularly, of women who work or the number of people who juggle both work and childcare: the point of these silly little stories is not to reflect reality, but to enforce traditional gender roles.
PETER McKENNA
Liverpool
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments