Thought provoking comment. I'm gonna think on it while I work today.

My son-in-law works 60 hours a week from a home office (tech work). He also travels for work a lot, usually overseas.

So my daughter who works 2 days a week is the one who has been building our homes from the ground up. She designed the homes, found the property, and went to work putting in a road, undergrounding water and utility lines half a mile, foundation work, septic system, electric, plumbing, roofing, etc. all the way through custom cabinetry. We dry camped for almost a year, while we built their home on this property.

Of course, son-in-law helps with construction on weekends and after work. He also does half or more of their household chores. If all goes well, I'll be moved into the house we're building for me here, by spring. Next we start restoring a big old house in town (my daughter's third old house restoration).

I'm retired and help, but I'm not as strong, or durable as I used to be. Right now, I'm taping and mudding drywall. Freezing temperatures are a pain, but we keep working anyways.

Yesterday, my daughter was unfreezing an intake pipe underneath the house, and my son-in-law came to visit me (in my temporary trailer home next to my house). Does she need help, I asked? Nope, she can do it, he replied, then added "I have confidence in her." About an hour later, daughter pops her head in the door with a great big, proud grin on her face; the water was running.

My daughter is quite slender, and my son-in-law is a 6'-4" tall, burly man with broad shoulders, and a full beard. If you saw him, you'd say, he looks like he's a Kentucky man (which is where we live).

My daughter's father-in-law brags about her all over town - and he's as traditional as a man can get. He even calls her when he needs help. Took them years to get their relationship worked out, but it was worth it.

I told you this story, because more and more women are doing what used to be men's work. I have another daughter with traditional male skills as well, who happens to manage a law firm. I also have two girlfriends my daughters' ages who build wind farms which is very dangerous, but high-paying work.

Men take cues from men, just like women take cues from women. Just like my daughter and her father-in-law, someone older bonds with someone younger, and together they lead the way for others.