article_snippet: Studies say that when it comes to fair division of household labor, gay couples, like my partner and I, generally do a better job.  
article_snippet: Unfettered by the ready expectations of traditional gender roles, same-sex couples "are more likely than members of heterosexual couples to negotiate a balance between achieving a fair distribution of household labor and accommodating the different interests, skills, and work schedules of particular partners," wrote social scientist Lawrence K. Kurdek.
article_snippet: In fact, after a no-doubt bumpy period of adjustment (editorializing from personal experience here), social scientist Lawrence K. Kurdek wrote, "This pattern of negotiation holds true even when couples have children living with couples.
article_snippet: What, you're wondering, about other traditional "male" gender roles in our male-less family?  
article_snippet: Our same-sex family has not so much created new gender role arrangements, but deconstructed such arrangements altogether.  
article_snippet: Meanwhile studies show that in working-class straight couples, even where the women work outside the home and the men don't, women still do a disproportionate amount of housework.  
article_snippet: More gay households or even sister-wife-type scenarios alone won't transform household gender roles.  