Why do women wed?

For your reading pleasure over the weekend.

A new book "argues that women put much more work into marriage than men do, and asks why they bother." Called Wifework, the book by Susan Maushart has been reviewed by Ann Marlowe of Salon.

An excerpt: "Maushart tells us that men think they are doing a favor by ineptly "helping out" around the house; men do the fun child-care tasks like playing and avoid the diapering, bathing and disciplining. Men trivialize the work they don't like, including cleaning, but are happy to enjoy its fruits. They won't "do intimacy" but require constant emotional stroking. They impose their food preferences on the whole family. They forget about foreplay as soon as they're married. They put their children to bed in their day clothes and wash dishes without detergent. It's a sorry litany, but also an old one, of which the most original part is Maushart's indictment of men's inability to reciprocate the emotional care they receive from their wives."

Read the whole article here.