Asymmetric gender change thesis

This theory argues that changes in gender relations, roles, and norms over the past several decades have not been even and instead have been asymmetric. In short, expectations around femininity, as well as the activities women undertake, have changed more than expectations around masculinity and men's activities.

Sayer et al., for example, argue that women's employment is now normative, even for mothers, yet the male breadwinner model remains firmly in place. Thus, even as women have increased the time they spend in paid labour, men's contributions to household work and child rearing has not kept pace.