It’s an unfortunate fact that in many relationships, women shoulder a lot of the load. They are often child carers, home carers, and sometimes the social secretary for their partners. It’s a lot to carry, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made things even harder.
If you’re a woman and feeling tired in 2022, there’s a lot of reasons, and it’s very likely had an effect on your love life. However, two researchers from the Swinburne University of Technology have found there may be a real solution – and it’s nothing to do with you.
The study, published in the Journal of Sex Research by Senior Lecturer in Psychology Simone Buzwell, and PhD candidate Eva Johansen, found that equity in a relationship has a massive effect on a woman’s desire.
A survey centred around their relationships and state of desire separated 299 women between the age of 18 and 39 into three broad groups: those who felt they were in an equal relationship, those who thought they were in one where they did more work, and another where women thought their partner carried the greater burden (amusingly, the last category was too small a sample size to be statistically useful – make of that what you will).
The findings that could be measured, though, told a clear story.
“Women who rated their relationships as equal also reported greater relationship satisfaction and higher dyadic desire (intertwined with the dynamics of the relationship) than other women in the study,” the researchers wrote for The Conversation.
“However, for the women’s work group it was clear their dyadic desire was diminished. This group was also less satisfied in their relationships overall.
“This suggests women’s low desire isn’t an internal sexual problem to be treated with mindfulness apps and jade eggs, but rather one that needs effort from both partners.”
The study also found that relationship length and the presence of children could have an impact.
So, the moral of the story? Women deserve a partner who can do their share of the housework.
