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| Europe |
| Blow to machismo as Spain forces men to do housework |
| 2005-04-10 |
| Spanish men will have to learn to change nappies and don washing-up gloves under the terms of a new law designed to strike a blow at centuries of Latin machismo. The law, due to be passed this month, is likely to provoke a revolution in family affairs in a country where 40% of men reportedly do no housework at all. It will oblige men to "share domestic responsibilities and the care and attention" of children and elderly family members, according to the draft approved by the Spanish parliament's justice commission. This will become part of the marriage contract at civil wedding ceremonies later this year. "The idea of equality within marriage always stumbles over the problem of work in the house and caring for dependent people," said Margarita UrÃÂa, of the Basque Nationalist party, who was behind what is an amendment to a new divorce law. "This will be a good way of reminding people what their duties are. It is something feminists have been wanting for a long time." Failure to meet the obligations will be taken into consideration by judges when determining the terms of divorces. Men who refuse to do their part may be given less frequent contact with their children. Spanish women spend five times longer on housework than their husbands. Even where both have jobs outside the home, Spanish women still do three times as much work in the house. "It is not just about housework, though. Women also end up doing most of the caring for the elderly," said Ms UrÃÂa. A study five years ago by Spain's Centre for Sociological Investigation concluded that fathers spent an average of 13 minutes each day looking after their children. Only 19% of Spanish men thought it was right for mothers of school age children to have a full-time job. More than a third thought mothers should not work outside the home at all. The change to the Spanish legal code will see domestic obligations added to a list of marital duties that currently includes fidelity, living together and helping one another. The initiative has received the backing of all Spain's political parties, including those of a conservative or traditionally Catholic bent. Ms UrÃÂa said that the Socialists, who run Spain's minority government and voted against the clause when the draft went through the commission, had told her that they, too, were now in favour of it. That should guarantee that, when the law - which will also make divorce proceedings faster and easier - is voted on in parliament in the next few weeks, the obligation to share domestic chores will be added to the statute books. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #15 Spain is rapidly on its way to having the lowest birthrate in the world,.. Now if only the Mexicans would follow suit... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-10 11:35:40 PM |
| #14 What's the Spanish term for 'sitzpinkler'? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-04-10 9:25:32 PM |
| #13 Frank, I don't want to brag... but my x is doing some chores in my household. She is under impression that I have no clue how to use vacuum cleaner, and considers my dish washing simply abyssmal! Not mentioning items like cleaning windows or such, I just pretend congenial ineptitude. She loves cleaning and I don't see why I should stand in the way of her expressiveness. ;-) |
| Posted by: Sobiesky 2005-04-10 8:01:11 PM |
| #12 I can't either! Where's the love? Oh, wait.....damn..I got it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-10 7:37:01 PM |
| #11 LOL, Frank. I can't imagine why.... :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-04-10 7:21:03 PM |
| #10 In my household, if I don't do it it doesn't get done. My ex-wife seems uncooperative about doing my housework :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-10 6:27:03 PM |
| #9 If it strengthens the family in Spain, it's a good thing. In Spain Al Qaeda is winning through force of demographics what it can't win through force of arms. Spain is rapidly on its way to having the lowest birthrate in the world, which means that in another generation the Spanish will, unless they increase their birthrate, have to de facto revert to a new Al Andalus just to pay the pensions of the one-third of the population that's retired. |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-10 6:24:53 PM |
| #8 where 40% of men reportedly do no housework at all Know what they call the other 60 percent of men who say they do some housework? Liar. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-04-10 5:56:06 PM |
| #7 How sad that something that should have been done all along by Spanish husbands has now to be enforced by the government. The government control aspect bothers me-personal relationships are no place for governmental intervention. The "equalization of the burdens of life" part, however, is very appealing. I'll bet an unexpected (from the husbands' points of view) side effect of this will be wives who nag less, want sex more and show their husbands genuine respect and appreciation. Time will tell. |
| Posted by: Jules 187 2005-04-10 5:25:28 PM |
| #6 Do the Spanish have no fault divorce? If not, this is grounds. If so, it will be part of the determination of alimony, etc. Ask anyone who's been divorced. It's too late, like getting a wreckless driving citation after an accident, but it's enforcement. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-04-10 5:09:39 PM |
| #5 "And how on earth do you enforce such a provision?" Arbitrarily and capriciously, as with all other such leftist "equality" laws. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2005-04-10 4:44:56 PM |
| #4 More ScrappleFace-like news from the Real World(tm). It's a wonder how Scott Ott stays in business. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-04-10 2:09:00 PM |
| #3 Someone has to say it: No one expects The Spanish Inquisition! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-10 2:03:13 PM |
| #2 And how on earth do you enforce such a provision? Do you put a camera in every kitchen, or wait to install one until somebody complains? "As you can see, officer, I'm doing the dishes all by myself." Or maybe just take one spouse's word for it: "I wanna divorce her because she never helped me take out the garbage." |
| Posted by: James 2005-04-10 12:20:22 PM |
| #1 (excerpt) Marica / Maricon / Loca / Pato / Joto / Mariposa (among other terms)  Derogatory terms used derisively to describe a man who is or appears to be homosexual. Terms vary depending of national background and not all carry the same meaning from one Latin American country to another (for example, "Pato" is used derogatorily in Puerto Rico but in Mexico and Colombia it just means "duck". "Joto" is a little more 'butch' than a "maricon", and more butch than a flaming "mariposa". http://www.glaad.org/publications/resource_doc_detail.php?id=3105 |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-04-10 12:17:32 PM |