Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: male participation or lack of

[Rowenahc (rowenahc]

The men here do alot of cleanup, after regular common house meals. But if it
is just a potluck, they never do. My guess is it's the difference between
recognized and unrecognized work.

This must be a cultural thing. The men regularly participate in both cooking
and clean-up here at CambridgeCoho - but this is the land of the
pointy-headed liberals!  Moreoever, we have several guys who do behind the
scenes stuff for which they prefer not to be praised.  For instance we have
some anonymous "gnomes" who regularly take out the trash and recycle bins
for my portion of our development (we are townhouses and apartments) and
most of the grass mowing and snow shovelling is done informally and without
recognition primarily (but not totally) by men.  However, our Events
Committee is all female and most of the community celebrations do tend to be
planned by the women.  On the other hand, most building projects and so on
tend to be planned and carried out by the men.  Gardening, like cooking, is
definitely an equal-opportunity activity!

When it comes down to it, people do what they like to do which also tends to
be what they are good at.  Teach your children well....

Rowenahc
CambridgeCohousing