Gender revolution in RP: More men doing housework

More Filipino husbands are doing the housework and younger men across the socio-economic spectrum are getting acquainted with their feminine side as the Philippines undergoes a gender revolution, market research company ACNielsen said.

Women now have greater career opportunities while males are moving into female domains like nursing, secretarial and reception work, helping to blur the traditional divide, ACNielsen said its surveys released this week showed.

Between seven and eight percent of all urban households in the Philippines now had "a male housewife, and the number is steadily growing," said ACNielsen Philippines executive director Feddie Magpantay.

Many of these men had chosen to stay at home despite having "marketable skills and academic credentials" enabling them to find work outside the home, but 45 percent of them evolved in Manila because there was no other choice, Magpantay said.

"With the wives now being the main income earners, these men have taken to running the household as their contribution to easing the family’s situation," Magpantay said.

Fourteen percent did so voluntarily because they had their own "lofty ideas about running households and the high standards that should be observed."

A separate ACNielsen survey showed more than 10 million of Filipino males, or nearly half the national population of males aged 18 or older, could now be considered "metrosexuals" who spend more time and money on their appearance and lifestyle than the "average Joe."

Most of these men are not gays, said ACNielsen country research director Aggie Mañalac.

She said more than 160,000 males from the country’s minuscule "A and B" group of top income earners could also be considered as metrosexual, aside from the 10 million or so from the "C and D" middle classes.

ACNielsen said the C and D classes that make up 63 percent of the Philippine population typically have monthly household incomes of between P15,000 and P50,000.

These males went to the beauty salon at least once a month, regularly used personal care products, and were more open about seeking the advice of their peers or female relatives on grooming tips. — AFP