Modern Irish men still frown at housework and spend too long in the pub, writes Shane Hegarty
For some time now, we've been told that the typical Irish male has changed. No longer was he brooding angrily over a pint, seeing the family only at the dinner table and opening his mouth only to eat his food or scold his children.
Instead, he had evolved into New Man, never happier than when doing the shopping while carrying a baby in a sling and trying to decide which recipe to cook. After which, he might pamper himself with a selection of male grooming products. He might even, horror of horrors, wax.
This week, just when we thought we had the Irish male cracked - and moisturised, and exfoliated - a survey arrived that told us the average Irish man has not evolved as much as we thought. Far from being New Irish Man, he still has elements of unreconstructed Old Irish Man. Some remain in the primordial swamp of manhood, and have no intention of getting out of it even though the wife needs to mop it up in time to make his tea.
According to the ESRI survey Time Use in Ireland, 81 per cent of men do no cleaning on weekdays, while 71 per cent avoid all cooking or food preparation. On average, men spend only one hour eight minutes on housework every weekday (one hour 31 minutes at weekends), while women spend two hours and 36 minutes on housework each day of the week. The survey didn't elucidate, but it's possible a good chunk may be spent going over the half-baked job done by their men.
The survey reminds us that men are still men. They still do the bulk of the DIY and gardening. They spend more time in the pub than women, but less time shopping (although previous surveys have shown that men decide, buy and get out quickly). They may do less housework, but it doesn't help that they work longer hours and spend more time commuting.
There are some obvious changes in their behaviour, though, notably in how they spend the same amount of time texting or telephoning as women do.
There was a time when an Irish man wouldn't rise from his chair when the phone went, because he knew it wouldn't be for him. And they spend an average of 40 minutes a day on "personal care". Until the late 1980s, most Irish men considered deodorant with deep suspicion, fearing it was only a step away from wearing eye shadow.
The survey also asked one question familiar to married men everywhere: "Where were you?" It might easily, though, have asked "who are you?", because surveys in general show contradictions that make the modern Irish man difficult to stereotype. Some signs definitely point towards New Man, such as the increased sightings of men pushing prams, or the fact that the Irish male grooming market is now worth more than €60 million a year.
But Irish men still love a hearty fry and a pint. Previous research tells us that two-thirds eat less than the recommended daily allowance of fruit and veg, making it no coincidence that two-thirds are overweight. On the obesity league table, in fact, Irish men come 16th in the world, suggesting that the beer belly is still a popular accessory regardless of the new found vanity.
Those men, though, have been branded "retrosexuals": men who don't care for grooming or Italian labels. They are the antithesis of "metrosexuals" - straight men who are as style-conscious as gay men are reputed to be - and they are the next target of the male grooming industry. When the retrosexual falls, then the typical Irish male will be a very different, more fragrant, sort indeed.
Believe it or not, though, the modern Irish man is considered romantic. In one 37-country study, Irish men, more than any other nationality, ranked love as vital in a relationship. Irish males were also more likely to prioritise a stable personality and intelligence over good looks in a long-term mate.
Quentin Fottrell, an agony uncle who dispenses advice on Today FM's Ray D'Arcy Show and through his website WorldWeary.com, says that modern Irish men know what an Irish woman wants. "They understand that women want consistency, monogamy, respect, love and that they want a good time. Irish men know this, because they want the same thing. Although, they do have more [of a] wandering eye than women."
He receives as many letters from men as he does from women, suggesting Irish men really are more in touch with their emotional side than they used to be. However, some things haven't changed, says Fottrell.
"They're more willing to talk about their feelings, but they still tend to get angry more than women, maybe because of conditioning or their upbringing."
And if they know what women want, they don't show it as much as they should, adds Fottrell. They're not very good at dating given that the courtship ritual tends to be focused on the pub, and he says Irish men still don't celebrate women in the way the Italians or the French might.
"They hold back. I think it's a power thing, that they're scared to hand over power to women, because they feel they already have too much already." Which won't go down well as an excuse for watching the football while she cleans the house.
However, for those who complain that some Irish men don't pull their weight around the house, bear this in mind: Irish men die five years younger than their women. It leaves little time to waste on vacuuming.