Donnelly’s video was a major hit on TikTok and was soon picked up by a wide range of media outlets. The clip shows the woman refusing to do anything around the house for a couple of days after her husband, Brian, who works in venture capital, had made an off-hand comment to her.
The topic of how to split up housework is a very serious and practical one, but not all internet users were able to get the humor and nuance in Donnelly’s video, however. The woman filmed a few follow-up videos commenting on all the attention her clip got. In one of them, she noted how some commenters told her to break up with her husband. In another TikTok, she hinted that the media might be slightly over-dramatizing the situation in the headlines.
This sort of open and honest communication and fair division of chores is very enviable. The fact is that you won’t see anything close to that in many long-term relationships. It’s very often women who end up doing most of the housework and childcare, even if both partners work full-time jobs. And the stats back that up.CNN reports
“Husbands in egalitarian marriages spend about 3.5 hours more per week on leisure activities than wives do. Wives in these marriages spend roughly 2 hours more per week on caregiving than husbands do and about 2.5 hours more on housework,” the researchers found.