Photo: The Broke Backpacker
LIFESTYLE
ARE SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS HAPPIER?
Source: Andrew Christian (Maya Vukovska)
In 1878, Leo Tolstoy wrote, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” A century and a half later, we can modify this famous quote by saying that happy families are indeed alike - and many of them are formed by same-sex partners.
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elationships are not an exact science, and all things said about them are not to be taken as indisputable truth. And yet, social researchers have long been trying to determine whether such a claim is actually fair and scientifically justifiable. A 2017 high-scale study conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland suggests that same-sex couples are generally more satisfied with their relationships than heterosexual ones. Two years later, a study on marital strain and psychological distress in same-sex and different-sex couples was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. It analyzed data drawn from 756 U.S. men and women in gay, lesbian, and heterosexual marriages, and the results were very similar. That means that straight couples may actually learn a thing or two from gay people when it comes to healthy and happy long-term relationships. PLAYING “MAN” AND “WIFE” The number one reason for the disparity in the family bliss levels between gays and straights is related to the traditional understanding of gender roles. Mag 28
Historically, men and women were expected to perform different tasks in the shared household. While men had to hunt down the pig and bring the bacon home, women were assigned a much bigger share of household chores… including frying the bacon. Even in the most liberal modern societies, these expectations continue to impact same-sex marriages. But to ask a gay couple who’s the woman and who’s the man in their relationship is not only insensitive but also awfully small-minded. Yes, there are many couples where one of the partners is more effeminate, but this doesn’t mean that he is the one who’s supposed to do the washing up, darn the socks, and wipe the baby’s ass. Unless it’s some kind of a cliché twink-sugar daddy kind of a relationship, same-sex couples tend to have less defined gender roles, hence more egalitarian domestic work arrangements. Normally, if you don’t feel like you’re the more exploited partner, you are less likely to feel stressed and disappointed in a relationship. WHO’S YOUR DADDY? In its literal, nonsexual connotation, this question is of no
