Social IssuesSEP 21, 2021

Wife's Ridiculously-Detailed Shopping List For Husband Goes Viral, Starts A Discussion On Male Incompetence

Recently, husband & wife TikTok account Adam x Melinda uploaded a few videos that have sparked a heated debate on the internet.

The clips show Melinda writing out a grocery list that not only named the items she wanted her husband to pick up at the store, but included the prices and a picture of what each item looks like so that Adam wouldn't get confused. She also hand-drew a map of the store itself, marking the products' exact locations.

The original video has racked up over 21.2 million views and 2.4 million likes

Image credits: adamxmelinda

These videos perfectly illustrate what many of us already intuitively know. While more than half of married couples in the United States claim that sharing household chores is "very important" for a successful marriage, when it comes to grocery shopping and cooking, women say they're the ones usually doing the work.

For instance, in U.S. households consisting of married or cohabiting parents and one or more children under the age of 18, 80% of mothers say they are the ones who usually prepare the meals – the same as the share who say they are the primary grocery shopper, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Some 71% of moms say they primarily handle both chores.

A few days later, Adam x Melinda released a follow-up

Image credits: adamxmelinda

Around two-in-ten fathers in the same type of household say they are the person who usually prepares the meals (19%) or grocery shops (20%). About one-in-ten (11%) say they normally do both tasks.

However, dads are about twice as likely as moms to say these chores are split equally: 20% of dads say they cook as much as their partner, compared with 10% of moms. The pattern for grocery shopping is very similar: 23% vs. 11%.

Even though Melinda reassured people that the whole thing was a joke

Image credits: adamxmelinda

It's worth mentioning that over the last 50 years, American women (particularly mothers) have increased the amount of time they spend in paid work, and men (especially fathers) have taken on more obligations at home.

Still, on average, U.S. women spend fewer hours in paid work than men, which might partially explain the gender imbalance in time spent on food prep and grocery shopping.