Few researchers have focused attention on any attempts wives may be making to get their partners to do more at home. This paper reports findings from one such exploratory study of 128 Melbourne marriages. Only three or four wives experienced any lasting success in trying to change existing arrangements in the division of housework. The failure of most women to negotiate successfully with their husbands is due mainly to wider structural and cultural forces and to the superior power of husbands. However, this paper shows that it is also due to women's ambivalence about pressing for change, which is associated with the high priority they give to home-making and the belief that their partners treat them fairly.
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