Marital equality

While women's roles have expanded at an astonishing rate and the need for a more egalitarian style of relating seems critical, the vast majority of married women still bear a disproportionate responsibility for the work of relationships, home, and children. Why has there been so little change? Why is equality so difficult to achieve?

Women have historically borne the burden of initiating and enforcing change although, ironically, this conflicts with their traditional role as nurturer and tender of relationships. Steil maintains that any motivation to seek change stems from a sense that inequality is unfair - a perception often impeded by gender differences in the sense of entitlement. Change is costly and not without risk.

The opportunity, however, to enjoy more intimacy in relationships is the reward and certainly benefits both marriages - "his" and "hers." Academics, researchers, and students in the fields of close relationships, social psychology, interpersonal communication, family studies, and sociology will find the cutting-edge presentation of Marital Equality both fascinating and enlightening.