Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home

by Kate Mangino

Overview

"An inspiring and inclusive guide for rethinking and reworking household gender roles."—Booklist (starred review)

"This book is a beautiful, engaging way to look at the modern family and Mangino works to dismantle gendered assumptions and replace them with structured decision making examples and case studies. A must read."—Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play

From gender expert and professional facilitator Kate Mangino comes Equal Partners, an informed guide about how we can all collectively work to undo harmful gender norms and create greater household equity.

As American society shut down due to Covid, millions of women had to leave their jobs to take on full-time childcare. As the country opens back up, women continue to struggle to balance the demands of work and home life. Kate Mangino, a professional facilitator for twenty years, has written a comprehensive, practical guide for readers and their partners about gender norms and household balance. Yes, part of our gender problem is structural, and that requires policy change. But much of our gender problem is social, and that requires us to change.

Quickly moving from diagnosis to solution, Equal Partners focuses on what we can do, everyday people living busy lives, to rewrite gender norms to support a balanced homelife so both partners have equal time for work, family, and self. Mangino adopts an interactive model, posing questions, and asking readers to assess their situations through guided lists and talking points. Equal Partners is broad in its definition of gender and gender roles. This is a book for all: straight, gay, trans, and non-binary, parents and grandparents, and friends, with the goal to help foster gender equality in readers' homes, with their partners, family and wider community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250276117
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,030,254
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Kate Mangino is a gender expert who works with international organizations to promote social change. She has written and delivered curricula in over 20 countries about issues such as: gender equality, women’s empowerment, healthy masculinity, HIV prevention, and early and forced childhood marriage. Mangino is a technical advisor and regular contributor to Fathering Together. Her writing can be found on Scary Mommy, Medium and Substack.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Acknowledging Inequality

1 Our Modern Household Reality 17

2 Socialized Inequality 48

3 Inequality Without Kids 73

4 Inequality with Kids 107

Part 2 What Equal Partners Look Like

5 From King of the Castle to Equal Partner 145

6 Toward Equal Partnership 175

7 Embracing Equal Partnership 213

8 The Next Generation of Equal Partners 247

Part 3 Living Gender Equality

9 A More Equal Self 279

10 A More Equal Community 294

Acknowledgments 319

Select Gender Glossary 323

Additional Resources 325

Notes 327

Index 335

Editorial Reviews

04/25/2022

Gender consultant Mangino debuts with a thoughtful treatise on how to achieve parity in the division of household labor. Troubled by research findings that women in different-sex relationships contribute more to physical and emotional work around the home than their partners, Mangino provides “ideas, stories, interviews, and suggestions about what you can do to address household gender inequality with your partner.” She studies 40 men who match their partners’ contributions at home, noting that all are strong communicators, prioritize family time, and aren’t afraid of vulnerability. Mangino proffers advice on how to build an equal partnership while dating, suggesting, for example, that “‘the gender talk’... should be an ongoing dialogue” and that those in the “Female Role” (which, she notes, can be occupied by someone of any gender) should make sure their partner supports their career. Mangino’s sharp insights into contemporary gender dynamics persuasively argue that there remains much to be done to achieve equality between partners (she reports, for instance, on research that found “working mothers today spend as many hours taking care of their children as stay-at-home mothers did in the 1970s”). The result is a vital manual for understanding how gender norms shape domestic life and how readers can change the script. (June)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2022

Gender expert Mangino provides an informative examination of gender inequality in American households, plus practical solutions. Her focus is on gender norms and the social aspects of inequality rather than on structural policy issues that contribute to the problem. The book is divided into three sections, with the first two detailing background information on gender inequality and profiling 40 men who act as equal partners in their households. In the third section of the book, Mangino uses a questioning, interactive approach to ask readers to create an action plan for change that applies the lessons learned through the book's statistics, talking points, guided lists, scenarios, stories, and interviews. The book includes examples from a variety of household types and includes discussion of the effects of race, sexual orientation, and having children on gender inequality. Mangino also addresses the importance of family and community support. Her research is apparent through the many references throughout the text as well as in the supplemental additional resources list and chapter notes. The book includes a gender glossary and index. VERDICT An important purchase that will provide a variety of readers with an informative and actionable understanding of gender inequality in the United States today.—Theresa Muraski

Library Journal

"A beautiful, engaging way to look at the modern family. A must read."—Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live)

"This is the first book I’ve read that not only manages to diagnose why these divisions persist but offers compelling and practical methods for combating them. Read on, and you might feel like there’s hope."—Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

“Mangino’s sharp insights into contemporary gender dynamics persuasively argue that there remains much to be done to achieve equality between partners. The result is a vital manual for understanding how gender norms shape domestic life and how readers can change the script.”—Publishers Weekly

"Mangino, gender expert and professional facilitator, has written an inspiring and inclusive guide for rethinking and reworking household gender roles...An enlightening read that offers tangible methods for families and community members interested in dismantling the gender binary."—Booklist (starred review)

"An informative and actionable understanding of gender inequality in the United States."—Library Journal

“Incisively examines narratives and dialogues around gendered work in the home and provides counter-narratives to help readers find more balance in their partnerships.”—Michelle Anya Anjirbag, Shelf Awareness

“Kate Mangino offers an inclusive and accessible look at how we can achieve gender equity at home. She reframes common roadblocks and chart a practical course for how we can be accountable in our relationships. No one gets a pass. And everyone benefits.”

—Anna Marie Johnson Teague, author of The Book of Dares

“Genuine gender partnership at home is not a “women’s issue,” it’s good for us, our partners, our children, and society broadly. Want to super-charge your relationship, role model respectful partnership for your children, and rev up the economy all at the same time? Then read Equal Partners—ideally with your partner—and learn how to pushback on traditional gender norms to truly show up as a partner at home.”

—W. Brad Johnson PhD and David G. Smith PhD, authors of Athena Rising and Good Guys

From the Publisher