Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@minton__jr
Topics: Parenting, Social Media, Viral, TikTok
Emily Brown
A husband and father from the US went viral after explaining why he does not help his wife with chores like cooking and cleaning.
UPS driver J.R. Minton, from Texas, shared his thoughts on the division of labor in the house in a video he posted to his platform.
Though the topic is one that can cause controversy depending on your personal beliefs, Minton's opinions obviously struck a chord with quite a few people as his video now has more than 1.4 million likes.
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In the TikTok clip, Minton openly told the camera: "I don't help my wife cook. I don't help her clean, do laundry, take care of the kids, none of that, because I do what I'm supposed to do as a father and a husband."
As you can imagine, this statement raised some eyebrows and caused a lot of people to start preparing their scathing responses.
But, as it turns out, Minton wasn't finished.
He continued: "I cook. I clean. I do the laundry. I take care of the kids."
This might sound like it comes in contrast to what he just said, but Minton explained the difference between simply doing these tasks, and 'helping' his wife to do them.
He said: "I can't help my wife do those things because they are my job too. Change the way you speak, change the way you think. And grow the f**k up and be a man."
After realizing Minton was actually calling for equal division of labor, rather than leaning into stereotypes, viewers were left stunned.
"I was getting heated there for a second," one person admitted, as another wrote: "I was about to be salty. Glad u clarified."
"Yep! My husband and i recognize it’s BOTH our kids and BOTH our house therefore BOTH our responsibility," added a third.
After his video went viral, Minton spoke to Today about his approach to being a husband and father, saying: "Pretty much everything about my parenting style is in spite of what I saw when I was growing up."
He called attention to the problem when he recalled getting praise for the simplest of tasks, saying: "I was wearing the baby and I had two kids in the cart, and this lady comes up to [my wife] Brittany and she’s like, ‘Oh my God. Is this your husband!? Look at him. You should take a picture of him'.
“I get so much credit for doing nothing. How low is the bar?"
With his video out in the world, Minton hoped more men will follow in his footsteps.
“We are not helping our wives, we are not babysitting our kids. That way of thinking needs to change," he said. “It’s time to grow up.”