Her book, which addresses both the personal and sociopolitical aspects of marriage, is a timely and encouraging companion for any woman contemplating divorce, or seeking to improve her own life, and ultimately her family's. Many happy and productive unions prove marriage to be eminently worthwhile, for wives as well as husbands, when both partners value each other's contributions equally. Anybody can live with anybody, depending on how many compromises he or she is willing to make. This is an essential part of any relationship, heaven knows, and only the person making the compromises can decide whether they're worth it in the long term. It doesn't matter if she washes every dish as long as he assumes some other task, domestic or otherwise, that she dislikes.
All solutions are personal.
Men and women need to treat each other as equals, which is no mean feat in a world that does not. For husbands and wives the effort requires imagination and the courage to be unconventional, because the structure of traditional marriage is not egalitarian. Wives want spouses who really listen and who genuinely care about their opinions. They want to respect and care about their husbands, and to be loved and respected in return. Instead of giving in to their husbands' desires as a matter of course, or expecting husbands to magically intuit their desires, wives need to articulate what they want.