"In the 1970s, when a woman was diagnosed with breast cancer, it wasn't unusual for her husband to be given a leaflet to help him cope with the possible removal of her breasts. It makes me furious every time I remember this."
"My hospital booklet about birth and breastfeeding in 2023 included a bit about acknowledging your husband's feelings if he was upset your breasts weren't 'his' anymore. When I was hospitalized during pregnancy, I was asked if my husband was able to look after himself. I could barely stand."
"Ugh, same!!! Then he would say, 'Why do we do this to ourselves?' after we left. Like, why are you so stressed, and who is 'we'? You got to eat without a fussy baby on your lap, while I had to actually physically endure it. Like, I'm so sorry you had to hear it and witness me struggling to eat!"
Prescriptive gender roles impose rigid expectations that assign emotional caretaking, household chores, and bodily autonomy concerns disproportionately to women. Medical and maternity practices have at times prioritized men's feelings over women's experiences, advising partners how to cope with surgeries or breastfeeding changes. Everyday family life often reflects unequal burdens, with mothers expected to manage fussy children while fathers avoid similar responsibilities. Women frequently absorb unpaid domestic labor across multiple households in addition to their own duties. These patterns generate resentment, exhaustion, and diminished autonomy and require redistributing domestic and emotional labor and changing institutional norms.
Read at BuzzFeed
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