NetGalley Review: Equal Partners by Kate Mangino

Equal Partners by Kate Mangino

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Rating:   ✩✩✩✩✩

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 A fantastic read!  I read this as a companion piece to the semi-source materials “All the Rage” and “Fair Play” and consider it an exceptional addition to the body of research on equitable relationships. While this book does a great job of outlining the social and cultural phenomena that lead to labor imbalances in relationships, it goes a vital step further and provides a “workbook” for readers to apply what they have learned. This aspect is especially helpful in that it creates space for fixing the labor imbalance in ways where that work isn't just another task to add to the Female Role’s  to-do list.  

The more personal narratives about study participants also helped highlight the many ways that equity can be achieved, though I would love to see follow up on these participants.  A secondary phase of this movement for relationship equity is to see if taking on the Female Role impacts the economic prospects of people coded as men as it does for those coded as women. Do they suffer during workforce re-entry issues/lose promotions/earn reduced pay over a career the same way that women do? This seems like the next step in the process of taking equitable individual partnerships and translating that to cultural norms that prioritize equity…but I do digress.  

In short, this is a great book for looking at the cultural norms of labor division,  evaluating the labor divide in our own homes and for formulating a pathway forwards.  A solid read for anyone in a relationship, or looking to enter one.

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Published by: St. Martin’s Press  Release Date: 28 June 2022  Purchase at: Amazon