Gen Z woman had the best response when boyfriend complained about her not being 'domestic'
Not getting any appreciation from one's partner for the work one does can be pretty hard. It can be harder when all the efforts a person makes are downright dismissed. A Gen Z woman found herself in such a situation. She did all the work around the house while living with her boyfriend, but he still told his mom she was "not the domestic type." The woman, u/avabeast, shared the entire incident with Reddit and how she boldly responded to the same.
"So, I live with my boyfriend. We’ve been together for three years, living together for one," the 26-year-old shared. Both of them worked full-time jobs, but the woman also cooked, cleaned, did the laundry, went grocery shopping, handled the bills and took care of their cat. "He’ll sometimes take out the trash or wash a dish, but that’s about it." The woman brought up this concern before and the man said that he would "try to do more," but never did anything more to help around the house. The couple went to the man's parents' house for dinner one day when the boyfriend's mom asked the woman, "So, what do you actually do around the house? He says you’re not really the 'domestic type.'"
The girlfriend blinked at her in surprise and laughed awkwardly before telling his mom, "Well, if by 'not domestic' you mean I do everything, then sure." The mom did not laugh at the comment and the boyfriend looked embarrassed but did not say anything to defend her. "On the way home, I asked him what that was about." The man commented that he meant she didn't "enjoy housework." The woman wondered who did. "I was mad. He apologized lightly and said it was just a joke." So the woman decided to take a break, "from his laundry." She stopped doing the man's laundry altogether and didn't say anything. "I just folded mine and left his in the basket." A couple of weeks passed and the girlfriend could see the pile of clothes growing.
The man eventually asked her, "Are you mad again or something? You haven’t done my laundry." The woman emphasized, "I thought you said I don’t do anything around the house, so I figured I’d live up to the label." The boyfriend felt that she was being "petty and immature," and his mom texted her to "let it go already." She responded, "I told her I’d be happy to let it go… right into the washing machine with the rest of his responsibilities." People shared their thoughts on the incident in the comments section of the thread.
u/artemisgoddess wrote, "It's not your job to cater to your boyfriend's laziness and his mom's outdated beliefs. Keep standing up for yourself and maybe he'll learn to appreciate all that you do around the house. Or at least learn how to do his own laundry. Domesticity isn't gendered." u/USS-24601 commented, "I have a feeling that every time they have a disagreement, she'll be ganged up by the mother and son. This is what it will look like every time. Not something to really look forward to, would be a deal breaker for me." u/Ichornet remarked, "He is too immature for a relationship. Leave and let his mother do his laundry."