What do you think about those movies in which the male protagonist goes through a crisis because he feels trapped by the routine of family life or marriage? like Shrek Forever After or The Incredibles. The focus is usually on the man's boredom, dissatisfaction, or desire for adventure, while the wife's feelings, frustrations, and sacrifices receive little attention or are pushed into the background. Wouldn't it be more interesting to also explore how she experiences that same routine and the challenges of family life?
Imagine how privileged men must be to have enough free time to get bored in their marriages. Do you know why they have the time to get bored? Because they're not the ones keeping the household running.
If they actually took responsibility for the house and the children the way they should, they wouldn't need to go looking for adventures elsewhere, they'd already have plenty of adventure at home. But since, in the end, around 80% of domestic labour and childcare responsibilities still fall on women by default, men have an awful lot of time on their hands to sit around thinking about how bored they are.
If things were truly split 50/50, you'd see a very different picture. After coming home from work and then having to put on three loads of laundry, make dinner, bathe the kids, and deal with everything else that needs doing, they probably wouldn't have so much time to fantasise about travelling the world or chasing excitement elsewhere. They'd be thinking about the same thing many women think about at the end of the day: getting some sleep.
