Women whose partners do more of the chores have a higher libido, according to research. Clare O’Reily finds out how true this is…
When I first fell for my husband, Jon, 20 years ago, it was his ruddy cheeks and beautiful grey eyes that left me infatuated. Over our two decades together, I’ve fallen in love with so much more; his warm, charismatic and brilliant personality, his parenting and his penchant for a nice glass of cava with me. But new research suggests that if he wants to get me weak at the knees, he needs to pick up a mop or crack out the vacuum.
Australian researchers surveyed nearly 300 women in relationships, asking questions about their sex lives and household chores. They found that couples who shared the chores equally enjoyed more sex than the couples where one partner did the lion’s share of the tasks.
In our house, I’ve always thought things are fairly equal – yes, I do more chores, but Jon does more life admin. Interested to see what might happen between the sheets if I got Jon into folding them more, we swapped some tasks for a week to see if an equal division of labour led to more amore…
Day 1
I casually mention the research to Jon. I’ve decided not to enlighten him fully in my experiment, as I fear biased results – so, shortly after mentioning the findings, I ask if he can hang out the washing. He doesn’t bat an eyelid and, watching him wrestle with the bedsheets in the wind, I’m reminded of Mr Darcy’s billowing white shirt and sexiness from Pride and Prejudice. I’m ruminating on how hanging out a queen-size sheet can have anything to do with libido when our youngest, Annie, 11, asks for lunch, so I continue to ponder over fish fingers in the air fryer.
Day 2
With the bedsheets back on but just used for sleeping, I gently suggest I’ll take our middle one, Sammy, 13, to football training and stand in the cold if Jon does the vacuuming. He gleefully agrees – he usually draws the short straw with training, but while I find shin pads, watching him wrap himself up with our Henry vacuum elicits more amusement than ardour. When I get back from training, though, he’s also cleaned the oven, and I find myself admiring how thorough he’s been.
Day 3
As if he’s starting to cotton on to my redistribution of daily tasks, Jon asks if I can post some insurance documents on my way to get the kids from school. He then has the audacity to ask me to pick up a bottle of red for dinner. I retaliate by asking him to change the kids’ beds, and we b
