Husbands who do housework may haveless sex, study says

Husbands who do a lot of cooking, cleaning, laundry and other traditionally female forms of housework may do their marriages some good but, contrary to popular belief, they are not rewarded with more sex, a new study finds. Instead, it's the guys who do themost lawn work, car repair, driving and bill-paying – traditional men's jobs – who have the most sex in marriage, the study suggests. The same is true for women who do the most traditional female housework, according to the study published in the February issue of American Sociological Review. For better or worse, the authors say, heterosexual married couples may still be reading from traditional "sexual scripts" when it comes to both housework and sex. In other words, the study concludes: "Men or women may, in essence, be turned on (however indirectly) when partners in a marriage do more gender-traditional work." The study comes with one majorcaveat: It is based on data collected two decades ago. Whilethe researchers say little has likely changed since then, some other experts disagree.