Basic Trope: A man who takes care of the housework.
- Straight: Every morning, Alice goes to the office, and Bob stays home with the kids.
- Exaggerated: Bob wears a frilly pink apron while taking care of his domestic duties.
- Downplayed:
- Although Bob does most of the housework, Alice also helps out a few times a week.
- Bob is a freelance artist who works at home while his wife is away at her office job. If there's housework that needs to be done, it's more likely that Bob will take care of it.
- Justified:
- Alice likes her job, but she and Bob feel that someone should be home with the kids.
- Bob likes domestic stuff.
- Bob works from home or telecommutes; Alice goes to the office. Since he is home, it only makes sense that he take care of the housework in addition to whatever it is he does in the home office.
- Alice sucks at cooking and housekeeping, but somebody needs to do it. That somebody ends up being Bob, and he is good at it.
- Bob is a single father.
- Alice earns enough that Bob doesn't need to work, and any income he earns would be just excess. So Bob decides to do housework and look after their children for something which both feel is needed much more.
- Bob was an ex-industrial/mining/construction worker who got laid off due to changing economic circumstances and is unable to find suitable work, whereas Alice earns enough from her stable white collar job to support the family. They agree that Bob is better off staying at home with the kids and minding the house.
- The setting is a Patriarchy Flip Matriarchy where roles are reversed. Heck, maybe it's only natural for them that since women have to go through the rigours of pregnancy and childbirth, men should pick up the slack afterwards, whilst doing all those physically demanding household tasks, while she goes off to pursue her career.
- Inverted: Every morning, Bob goes to the office, and Alice stays home with the kids.
- Subverted:
- Bob is seen out and about during the day.
- Bob is seen working at a computer.
- Alternatively, Bob is a Bumbling Dad who can't take care of the house
- Bob is challenged or compelled to look after the house for the day, even though that's normally Alice's job.
- Alice and Bob both work outside the home, and they divide up household chores and responsibilities equally.
- Double Subverted:
- With a small child who is not yet old enough to go to school.
- Because Bob works from home or telecommutes.
- But Gosh Dang It to Heck!, he tries!
- Bob starts taking care of the house more often as Alice goes Back to School or back into the workforce.
- Parodied: Bob is seen blubbering over a soap opera after he puts the toddler down for a nap.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob and Alice agree on interchangeably take care of the kids and house.
- Averted:
- Alice is the one who stays home with the kids.
- Both Alice and Bob work outside of the home.
- Both Alice and Bob are at home during the day.
- Enforced: "Let's subvert the traditional Dom Com household by having Alice be the primary breadwinner, and Bob be the one home with the kids."
- Lampshaded: "Yah, I'm a stay at home Dad. You got a problem with that?"
- Invoked: Alice and Bob decide that one of them should be home with the kids.
- Exploited: Bob using his "single, stay-at-home father" image to attract women.
- Defied:
- Alice and Bob agree that it's best if Alice does it.
- Alice and Bob decide that with the high cost of raising a child to adulthood, it's better if the household has both their incomes. The kids can be sent to daycare, or a nanny can watch them while Alice and Bob work.
- Alice and Bob either both work at home, or don't work at all.
- Alice and Bob have a nanny to watch the kids, a maid to take care of housework, and a gardener to take care of the landscaping. Alice and Bob may or may not be employed, but the point is, domestic work is of little to no concern to either of them.
- Discussed: "Yeah, well, I enjoy it. I get to spend time with the kids, out in the garden, doing whatever I want, and then when my wife comes home, she thanks me for it!"
- Conversed: "This show is quite unusual, with the husband being the one to keep house."
- Deconstructed: Bob doesn't have the support of mainstream society.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob manages to network with other stay-at-home dads, and has someone to lean on.
- Despite the initial angst, Bob stays true to himself. He enjoys raising kids and is accustomed to housework. He knows for certain that this role is best suited for him because he enjoys it and has the skills to do so. Rationally, becoming the househusband is the best decision. Bob is happy.
- Played For Laughs: Bob is a Bumbling Dad who obviously sucks at domestic work.
- Played For Drama: The stress of the job and/or teasing from other guys causes Bob to have a breakdown.
Back to House Husband, where everything is nice, clean, and polished, thanks to Bob!
