‘Some hearty man-bashing’: Rory Gibson on ‘toxic feminists’ spinning gender stats

Apparently the latest household survey out shows men are lazy buggers, Rory Gibson writes. That’s not actually the case - men are chivalrous as ever and feminists are spinning the stats.

Rory Gibson said recent studies don’t paint a true picture of the gender divide when it comes to housework.

With commendable predictability the latest survey of who does what around the house paints men as lazy buggers.

Actually, that’s not accurate. The survey results don’t show that at all.

It’s lazy, sexist, toxic feminists writing about the survey results who refuse to let a nuanced picture of gender work choices get in the way of some hearty man-bashing. Yawn.

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey has been studying how Australian couples live and work for nearly 25 years, regularly publishing its findings to the great delight of reporters looking for an easy headline.

That headline invariably shouts that women do roughly twice as much housework as men, and that situation refuses to budge even in these enlightened times.

Hence the slur that men are just lazy cads living a life of pampered indolence endures.

I’ve had a look at the latest survey and the truth is a little more layered.

Rory Gibson.

If, say, I was reporting on the survey for the Daily Misogynist, I could come up with several headlines which would be just as accurate (in a narrow sense) as the housework one:

“Men work in paid jobs eight hours a week more than women.”

“Men spend twice as much time doing outdoor tasks than women.”

“Men spend 25 percent more time travelling to work than women.”

See how easy it is to spin a story out of statistics? All those findings are in the same survey.

While I was studying the results one thing became abundantly clear … men, chivalrous as ever, are keeping their partners safe through their effort choices.

By electing to do all the outside stuff like gardening, pool cleaning, gutter clearing, lawn mowing etc, men are putting themselves in harm’s way from such threats as snake and spider bites, UV radiation, machinery mishaps and falls.

By choosing to do more paid work they are sparing their beloveds having to deal with workplace bullies and dickhead bosses.

And doing the heavy lifting as far as commuting is concerned means it is men who are more at risk from being killed in a traffic accident or train derailment.

Men are essentially acting as human shields to keep their women safe. Allowing their partners to concentrate on cleaning the stove top or putting on a load of washing is an act of love.