I like a lot of things about The Young Turks and I think they're a vital part of the current American left. However, there are too many parts of that left (like society at large) that have a real blindspot when it comes to gender issues, and TYT is sadly no exception.

In this segment, TYT host Ana Kasparian and feminist Darcy Lockman hold a thoroughly one-sided discussion about the gender breakdown in housework. Many years ago, I wrote something of a rebuttal to some aspects of this kind of discussion.

Some other points to take note of in this TYT chat:

  • The presumption that the causal arrow between "more housework by men" and "more sexual activity" goes in only one direction: when men do more housework, women are more likely to have sex with them. No thought is given to, for example, the possibility that when women are more sexually affectionate with men, men are more enthusiastic about contributing to the household; or, most likely, that both "sexual frequency" and "egalitarian housework" are both connected to a third variable (positive emotional state, youth, whatever).

  • The 'non-normalized' comparisons obscure an enormous amount of gender inequality that favors women. It is far more likely, for example, that 'two earner households' will be comprised of a part-time female worker and a full time male worker than the reverse. Even looking at couples with two full time workers obscures the fact that men working full time put in 10% more hours than women who work full time (last time I checked though it's been a few years).

  • Ana and Darcy have this weird exchange where they talk as if society only valorizes male involvement with child care, and never mention how society often views men's involvement with children with suspicion and alarm, with occasionally devastating effects on innocent men.