Don’t be so sexist! A house husband is a blessing
I Pity poor Ursula Hirschkorn’s ‘house-husband’ Mike (Mail). the poor chap can’t do right for doing wrong. We women have spent many decades muttering darkly about our menfolk not pulling their weight on the domestic front and have enjoyed the warm, cosy feeling of aggrieved victimhood. But when one of the oppressors decides to roll up his sleeves and get stuck into housework and nappy-changing . . . oh, dear — he’s not quite the man we thought him to be and we can’t possibly respect him, let alone find him attractive in his porridge-stained pinny. What’s her problem? Remember the vows we make — in sickness and health, for richer and for poorer — these words express perfectly the curve-balls life can throw at you, and ask that you pledge to stick it out as best you can. Ursula’s husband has lost his job. Where is her sympathy and gratitude for his support in enabling her to get out there and get decent work? She should admire his flexibility and broad-minded thinking, so different from her grudging, oddly old-fashioned attitude. that she can’t respect someone for stepping outside a traditional role is profoundly sexist and insults women who, for decades, have campaigned to have working in the home recognised as a real job, not just a skivvy’s life, worthy of contempt. My husband is retired and I can’t be more grateful for all the hard work he does, which enables me to work and achieve my dream. He would never resent me for what I do or what I earn, but is proud of me, as I am of his many skills. Ursula, you and your husband should be a team, able to shift in and out of roles to accommodate your changing fortunes and child responsibilities. this is what makes a marriage work, together with unconditional love and respect.
CHRISTINA BURTON, Eastbourne, Sussex.