Husband’s insistence that women do housework exposes conflict on Divorce Camp

A husband’s insistence that women should do housework emerged as a central source of conflict for a couple in their 19th year of marriage on episode 104 of JTBC’s Divorce Camp. The episode examined their daily lives, showing a wife carrying all the household work while her husband maintained patriarchal views about their respective roles.

Their relationship was portrayed as closer to that of a leader and pupil, or a manager and someone under her care, than an equal partnership. The wife described herself as feeling like her husband’s manager as she attended to him. He was shown directing her to bring him water and run the vacuum cleaner.

The husband expressed the view that, because he had been out working, it was natural for his wife to prepare meals and handle the housework. The wife expressed reluctance about her husband doing the laundry and recounted his reasoning that, having been born a woman, she should do a woman’s work.

He also made jokes along the lines of needing “a slave of my own.” His wife said that although these remarks were presented as jokes, they upset her because they made her feel demeaned as a person. Despite her discomfort with his behavior, she accommodated his demands to avoid arguments and steered clear of conflict out of concern that he might become angry.

The same imbalance extended to caring for a pet. Three years earlier, the husband had decided to keep the animal and brought it home, but his wife was solely responsible for changing its toilet pads and handling its care. She pointed out that keeping the pet had been his decision, highlighting how the household burden had fallen on her.

After 19 years of marriage, the wife said she treated her husband like her “eldest son.” Meeting his demands made him feel like a child to her, she added. She said she did not feel resentment toward him when he fulfilled her requests or expressed gratitude, but fundamental differences over housework and their roles remained.

Source: JTBC Entertainment (YouTube)