https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mankeeping3_1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/div>\n
Mankeeping from a Young Woman\u2019s Perspective<\/h3>\n
Prasad Counseling Intern and Fordham University Psychology student Hali Kleiman offers her opinion on Mankeeping:<\/p>\n
“As a 21-year-old woman in 2025, when I first read Angelica Ferrara\u2019s Theorizing Mankeeping: \u201cThe Male Friendship Recession and Women\u2019s Associated Labor as a Structural Component of Gender Inequality and the overall concept of Mankeeping, my reaction was \u201cOh, 100%, most, if not all of my friends have dealt with this, including me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
As a young single woman, I find this concept to be immensely prevalent while navigating romantic relationships, to the point where I have almost given up on dating. Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration, I mean, I went on a date this past month, but based on past experiences, I hold this mindset that a majority of men today just want a \u201crelationship\u201d so that they gain external validation and emotional security from their partner. From my experience, men tend to expect women to be their full-time emotional support system, and do not extend the same level of care back to their partners\u2014 an identical trend that has been experienced by my friends as well.<\/em><\/p>\n
In the past, Mankeeping has left me emotionally drained, with no time to take care of or focus on myself. At this point in my life, I wouldn\u2019t say I have given up on dating in its entirety, but my main priority is not a relationship, my primary focus is working towards my goals and building the life I strive to attain; and quite honestly, my life is so much more at peace when I do not find myself entertaining individuals who expect me to \u201cMankeep\u201d them.<\/em><\/p>\n
Until I meet someone who aligns with my life and craves a healthy relationship that involves mutual effort from both partners, I am completely content on my own! Overall, Mankeeping is an intriguing and prevalent topic in today\u2019s society, especially seen in adolescent dating. However, it\u2019s worth noting that healthy relationships should involve mutual effort from both partners rather than one person doing all the \u201ckeeping.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
The Status of Mankeeping in America<\/h3>\n
What do the numbers say? $\"woman$ <\/p>\n
\n
In U.S. couples, 59% of women<\/strong> say they do more<\/em> household chores than their partner, while only 6% say their partner does more (Pew Research<\/a>)<\/li>\n
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics \/ Time-Use data: In 2023, women spent about 1.9 hours\/day<\/strong> on chores like cooking, cleaning, yardwork vs about 1 hour\/day<\/strong> for men (Washington Post)<\/a><\/li>\n
A study from Italy called \u201cBeyond Time: Unveiling the Invisible Burden of Mental Load\u201d<\/em> shows women report much higher responsibility for organizing household\/childcare tasks, more emotional fatigue, and more carry-over of family duties into paid work hours<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Mankeeping is when it feels like you\u2019ve adopted a full-grown man-child.<\/strong><\/p>\n
In a healthy bond, he shares the load; in Mankeeping, the woman is the load-bearer. One builds you up, the other wears you down. Ladies\u2014choose love, not unpaid emotional labor!<\/p>\n
Men, swap the Mankeeping for teamwork\u2014real strength is sharing the weight.<\/p>\n
Step up with love, respect, and consistency, and you\u2019ll build a partnership. A healthy relationship is when you feel loved, respected, and free to be yourself.<\/p>\n
Support for Individuals & Couples<\/h3>\n
$\"girlfriend$ If you are struggling with issues of Mankeeping or other problems in your relationship, therapy may be a great place to find support for what you\u2019re experiencing as well as help for improving your situation.<\/p>\n
Prasad Counseling & Training<\/a> provides a variety of counseling services including group and couples therapy.<\/a><\/p>\n
Contact us at our downtown Houston office<\/a> to learn about the variety of services you could benefit either on your own or with your partner. Call us at 281-948-3322.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The hidden \u201cjob\u201d of managing a man\u2019s happiness You’ll never guess why some single women have stopped dating! It is called “Mankeeping.” It refers to the practice of maintaining or managing a male partner\u2019s well-being or happiness in a relationship. The term is often used in a somewhat humorous or strategic context. The concept…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-counseling","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330036"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330047,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330036\/revisions\/330047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prasadcounseling.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}