In the days when only men worked and women stayed home, how were they able to keep respecting one another? It’s hard to imagine that for me. The world of men and the world of women were so different that it seems impossible to understand the value that each side brought to the family. Lack of understanding seems unavoidable.
The advantage of dual-income household is that it’s easier to respect one another because both share a great deal in common. You feel like you have a real partner. Both can understand and appreciate one another more easily. You are not alone in your struggle.
If your wife has hardly ever worked, you’d get little or no consolation by talking to her because she wouldn’t understand your problem/suffering. Inversely, if your husband has never done any childcare and domestic duties, you wouldn’t get any consolation by talking to him about your troubles either. The longer this separation of labor continues, the farther apart these two worlds move, and also the more dependent on each other you become where you don’t have any choice but to stay together. Love or respect becomes secondary to the sheer need for survival.
I think we have feminism to thank for the progress.
