Is Child-Care A Woman's Duty? 86 Pct of Indian Men Think So

Women are often to blame, as well. Most mothers have this overwhelming desire to control the way their children are parented, and tell their men what to do, how to do it, when to do it and so on. They behave like control freaks that can’t let go. Invariably, women drive men crazy, and men end up making that behavior an excuse to avoid the hard stuff.

The solution is quite simple. If one wants her husband to parent, then she needs to let him do it his way. Even if that means returning to a messy house, where the kids have eaten more chocolate than is wise, and gone to sleep in their school clothes as men often have different priorities than women, sometimes preferring to do the fun stuff rather than clean up the puddles.

The stereotype has continued to be perpetuated, that women nurture and men pay the bills. Women too are paying the bills now and work hard to earn that money, and men now must learn to nurture, as well. Parents need to raise their children to do both kinds of work, teaching them how to lay the table and write a cheque.

Besides, men will surely learn to appreciate having a confident wife who can handle financial investments and pay the bills, just as women can appreciate a man who can clean up baby poop and bathe the kids.

Gender activist Vibhuti Patel told TOI, "Young men in India have accepted that educated women bring money and they are benevolent, allowing women certain freedoms, but only as long as it does not touch their power. They continue to exercise total control over the money and house.” She further added “In that sense, men are allowing women to do certain things as they please out of paternalistic concern. But women don't need to be treated as babies, they are equals."