Everyone needs to know basic life skills no matter what gender we tend to associate with them. Sooner or later, one has to leave the nest, and mommy or daddy won’t be around to do your laundry or fix your flat tire.
Likewise, your spouse won’t always be around to make sure you have a home-cooked meal or help you turn off the water when there’s a leaky faucet. Knowing how to fix things or handle basic domestic tasks also makes economic sense. Most people can’t afford to eat out every night, and plumbers are expensive.
A wonderful sense of freedom comes with being self-sufficient and not having to depend on anyone to get through the day.
A Reddit user named Key_Effective_2260 thought he was doing the right thing by teaching his stepdaughter how to mow the lawn, a chore typically associated with men, but was taken aback when his wife called him a “jerk” for doing so.
He took the question to the Reddit AITA subforum to determine if he was right, and the responses were all in his favor. Key_Effective_2260 is the father of four stepchildren, ages 8 to 15, and their biological father is out of the picture. So the kids now call him “dad.”
“The two oldest are guys, and I taught both of them stereotypical guy chores, fixing cars, cutting grass… etc. I started both of them when they were about 10,” he wrote. “My daughter Annie just turned 11. When she did turn ten I did start teaching her her more hands-off stuff since she was small. She is bigger now and stronger so we had our first lesson on cutting the grass and how a lawnmower works. She did really well ( little worried she would lose control of the mower since she is still short but my fears were unfounded). She did the whole yard and I’m quite proud of her.”
The dad seemed to be a good parent by teaching his stepdaughter how to mow the lawn. It’s a skill she’ll likely need if she ever owns a house, and it’s an excellent way for her to help her parents as she grows older.
“My wife had a fit though, she got in an argument about teaching her guy chores,” he said. “That she is too young ( the other two kids started before her age). I told her that she needs to stop babying her and that she needs to know how s**t works. She called me a jerk and left.”
The post received over 2,000 comments, and they unanimously supported the dad in the argument.
“Neither feminism nor misogyny will help you cook when you’re hungry, nor change a tire when you’re stranded. These are just general life skills everyone should know. I, too, wish my dad taught me ‘guy chores,'” Hellhoundsatemybaby wrote.
“Chores are chores. There aren’t guy or gal chores. Every skill is important in life,” 000-Hontaru_Tomoe responded. “You are teaching her how to manage her own household. I don’t mow these days…but I absolutely can. And that matters,” PracticalPimrose added. “Just like boys need to be taught laundry and cooking because they need the skills. Full stop.”
In the end, equality is all about ensuring everyone has the same opportunity to care for themselves and those they love in this world without being held back by prejudice and arbitrary rules. It’s comforting to see that a large group of people agree that teaching young girls to do chores, usually associated with men, is a great way to help them become independent women.