Egalitarianism, Housework, and Sexual Frequency in MarriageSabino Kornrich, Julie Brines and Katrina Leupp (February 2013)
A b s t r a c t http://www.asanet.org/journals/asr/amer ... review.cfmChanges in the nature of marriage have spurred a debate about the consequences of shifts
to more egalitarian relationships, and media interest in the debate has crystallized around
claims that men who participate in housework get more sex. However, little systematic or
representative research supports the claim that women, in essence, exchange sex for men’s
participation in housework. Although research and theory support the expectation that
egalitarian marriages are higher quality, other studies underscore the ongoing importance of
traditional gender behavior and gender display in marriage. Using data from Wave II of the
National Survey of Families and Households, this study investigates the links between men’s
participation in core (traditionally female) and non-core (traditionally male) household tasks
and sexual frequency. Results show that both husbands and wives in couples with more
traditional housework arrangements report higher sexual frequency, suggesting the importance
of gender display rather than marital exchange for sex between heterosexual married partners.
Keywords gender, household labor, marriage, sexual frequency