Eine Studie behandelt die Zusammenhänge von Hausarbeit, Gleichberechtigung und der Häufigkeit von Sex:
Changes in the nature of marriage have spurred a debate about the consequences of shifts to more egalitarian relationships, and media interest in the debate has crystallized around claims that men who participate in housework get more sex. However, little systematic or representative research supports the claim that women, in essence, exchange sex for men’s participation in housework. Although research and theory support the expectation that egalitarian marriages are higher quality, other studies underscore the ongoing importance of traditional gender behavior and gender display in marriage. Using data from Wave II of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study investigates the links between men’s participation in core (traditionally female) and non-core (traditionally male) household tasks and sexual frequency. Results show that both husbands and wives in couples with more traditional housework arrangements report higher sexual frequency, suggesting the importance of gender display rather than marital exchange for sex between heterosexual married partners.
Quelle: Egalitarianism, Housework, and Sexual Frequency in Marriage
Also mehr Sex in Beziehungen mit traditionellen Rollenverteilungen.
Aus der Studie:
Although the notion that egalitarian marriages are sexier was widely broadcast in the media, there is little empirical support for this view. The claim rests on results of a smallscale (N = 300) survey and reports of couples in therapy conducted by Chethik, which, while intriguing, are difficult to evaluate (Chethik 2006; cf. North 2007). Moreover, other research suggests that for all the benefits of peer marriage, more egalitarian couples are more likely to have unsatisfactory sex lives and experience a lack of passion due to habituation, and these differences are not explained by a shortage of time (Schwartz 1995). While couples in more traditional marriages may experience a range of marital difficulties, lower sexual interest is especially a problem among egalitarian couples (Schwartz 1995). More recent research finds that husbands’ housework is positively linked to sexual frequency, but women’s own housework hours are even more strongly associated with sexual frequency, suggesting that greater egalitarianism may not be associated with higher sexual frequency (Gager and Yabiku 2010).
Es scheint also auch schon andere Studien zu dem Thema zu geben, die zu ähnlichen Ergebnissen kommen.
Zu den Mechanismen:
How might sexual scripts work in marriage? There is relatively little work on this topic, but the logic of a sexual scripting argument generally suggests that women’s and men’s sexual activity is governed by internalized cultural scripts. 7 Among teens, sexual scripts are highly gendered and link sexual activity to masculinity and femininity (Storms et al. 1981; Udry and Chantala 2004). Other recent research finds that men experience greater sexual dysfunction when their partners spend more time with the men’s friends than men do themselves, suggesting that behaviors that threaten men’s independence and masculinity lead to greater sexual dysfunction (Cornwell and Laumann 2011). Given the general importance of gender, we suspect that scripts continue to link sexual behavior to masculinity or femininity among heterosexual married couples. If so, expressions of gender difference should help to create sexual desire. Household labor and its performance—or lack thereof—is centrally tied to notions of what constitutes appropriate behavior for men and women and thus masculinity and femininity (Berk 1985; Bittman et al. 2003; Brines 1994; Greenstein 2000; South and Spitze 1994). If appropriate performances of masculinity and femininity are prerequisites for sexual behavior or sexual desire in marriage, and housework is a key way of engaging in these performances, then the extent to which husbands and wives do housework in ways that signify masculinity or femininity should be linked to sexual frequency
Hier würde es also darauf ankommen, ob man über die Hausarbeit bestimmte Formen von Männlichkeit oder Weiblichkeit wahrnehmen kann. Wenn die Frau einen Mann, der zuviel Hausarbeit macht, als unmännlich wahrnimmt, dann könnte sie ihn deswegen weniger begehren, wenn Männlichkeit sexy ist. Zudem könnten Männer, die weniger auf klassische Männlichkeit ausgerichtet sind, auch eher die klassische Rollenverteilung wählen und aus diesen Gründen sexier sein. Ein weiterer Grund, den ich mir vorstellen könnte, ist, dass Männer mit Jobs mit hohem Status bereits aufgrund der beruflichen Einbindung weniger Hausarbeit machen. Es könnte sein, dass Männer mit sehr guten Jobs auch eher ihre Frauen von der Hausarbeit freistellen können und bereits aus dem damit verbundenen Wohlstand mehr Sex reduziert. Zudem könnten Frauen die voll im Berufsleben stehen evt, gestresster sein als Frauen, die dies nicht tun.
In der Studie sind folgende Gründe genannt:
We note three plausible mechanisms that might link sexual frequency to gendertraditional divisions of housework:
(1) gender-traditional divisions of labor increase sexual desire and thus sexual frequency,
(2) both result from gender traditional beliefs or are ways of doing gender, and
(3) gendertraditional arrangements may increase relationship satisfaction, which in itself leads to greater sexual frequency.
Die erste Möglichkeit wird wie folgt ausgeführt:
The first mechanism—that sexual scripts activate desire and sexual behavior in the presence of gendered activity—would operate in the following fashion. Traditional gender performances serve as cues of masculine and feminine behavior; these cues activate individuals’ internalized cultural sex scripts, creating sexual desire and activity. In essence, traditionally masculine and feminine behaviors consciously or unconsciously serve as turn-ons for individuals. We do not argue that this takes place instantly, but rather over time, individuals perceive their spouse as more masculine or feminine as they engage in gender-traditional behaviors, and this increases sexual attraction. To the extent that masculinity and femininity are central parts of both the household division of labor and sexual attraction and activity, we expect that households with more traditionally gendered divisions of labor will experience greater sexual frequency. We note that this argument—that sexual behavior is linked to gender identity and expression—is entirely consistent with a mechanism proposed by Cornwell and Laumann (2011:177–78): “in the context of sexual relationships, masculinity is expressed through ‘erection, penetration, and climax,’ so it is possible that threats to gender identity . . . manifest as sexual problems.”
Das Männlichkeit und Weiblichkeit als sexy wahrgenommen ist eine hier bereits häufiger vertretene These. Was genau als männlich oder weiblich angesehen wird, kann bis zu einem gewissen Grad durch kulturelle Praktiken bestimmt werden.
Die zweite Möglichkeit wird wie folgt ausgeführt:
A second possibility is that couples with more gender-traditional divisions of housework hold more traditional beliefs and act in more gender-typical ways, which leads to more frequent sex. More masculine-identified men may value more frequent sex, and more highly feminine-identified wives may refuse sex less often because they view providing sex as part of being a good wife. Thus, men may initiate sex more frequently, and wives refuse less, with no link to desire. In essence, this mechanism suggests that both housework and sexual behavior are ways that couples do gender, and any observed relationship between the two would reflect couples’ underlying orientations toward gender rather than causal influence. An alternative possibility reflecting similar intuitions is that there is greater coercion among households with traditional divisions of labor, leading to greater sexual frequency. However, as we show in the Appendix, wives’ reported satisfaction with their sex life has the same relationship to men’s participation in housework as sexual frequency. This suggests coercion is not an important mechanism, because coercion should lead to higher sexual frequency but lower sexual satisfaction among women
Das maskulinere Männer einen stärkeren Sexualtrieb haben könnte ich mir über den Zusammenhang mit Testosteron gut vorstellen. Das Frauen sich dann nur hingegeben muss aus meiner Sicht dann auch nicht der Fall sein.
Die dritte Variante schildern sie wie folgt:
A third possibility is simply that gendertraditional arrangements are linked to sexual activity because couples perceive greater affection and love when partners do more (albeit in traditionally gendered ways) in the household. Rather than couples engaging in more sexual activity because traditional divisions of housework act as signals of masculinity and femininity, couples may instead feel more affection and satisfaction within their relationships under traditional gender divisions of labor, and this leads to more frequent sex. Doing housework can convey affection, although often in traditionally gendered ways. As DeVault (1991:324) notes, “the gender relations of feeding and eating seem to convey the message that giving service is part of being a woman, and receiving it fundamentally part of being a man.” Gender-traditional beliefs and practices are often associated with greater marital happiness and men’s emotion work in the family (Wilcox and Nock 2006).
Es würden also über die Arbeiten bestimmte, jeweils zu den Geschlechtern passende Eigenschaften und Gefühle vermitteln. Und das würde eben dann einfacher werden und von beiden Seiten gut aufgenommen werden.
Hier eine Grafik aus der Studie:
Da scheint sich doch ein recht deutlicher Zusammenhang zu zeigen.
Auch die Besprechung ist interessant:
In conclusion, these results shed new light on an area of marriage—sex—that has received relatively little recent attention. More broadly, they expand our understanding of how couples make bargains in households, suggesting that straightforward exchange relations do not govern sexual behavior in marriage. Instead, a more complex, socialized set of beliefs and scripts related to gender link wives’ and husbands’ performances of household labor and sexual frequency, much as gendered scripts govern a wide range of behavior. The importance of gender has declined over time, but it continues to exert a strong influence over individual behaviors, including sexual frequency within marriage.
Die Studie würde insofern nahelegen, dass auch in diesen Bereichen klassische Rollen ihre Bedeutung haben und diese Folgen daher ebenfalls die Geschlechterrollen stabilisieren.
Alles Evolution 