I am curious, is it considered un-masculine in East Europe and Russia if a man cooks food or does dishes ?

Both of my parents are from Russia (different parts), and I was born and raised in America. With that said, I do not believe that what you do is in any way "un-masculine." In fact, if I were dating a guy who would do that, that would simply make me love him even more. I suppose it depends on what part of Eastern Europe someone is from, as well as how that person was raised. I do know that individuals from specific parts of Russia/Europe are quite stern in regard to male and female social roles, particularly when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and the like. However, things have changed and some people (especially males who would like the wife to do everything) refuse to accept that, thereby passing these ideas on to their children. Personally, I despise when people say things like the 19 year old brother, or even the two girls, said. Men and women are equals now (or at least they should be). If things were like they were 1,000 years ago, we'd still be using candles as light sources and pooping in a hole in the ground. All I can say is continue to do exactly what you're doing. Smart women will appreciate it and love you more for it. Hope that helps :-)

I am married to a spoiled Hungarian that has lived most of his life in the states. We go visit Hungary often. My brother-in-law(in Hungary) does dishes and helps clean the house. I don't believe he did this when he was first married over 40 years now but around 20 years ago he started helping his wife with housework.( All of the family was shocked about this and talked about them behind their backs like she had " wimped" him out or something." I believe she had some sort of breakdown and it scared him since he cares about her. I have noticed that in almost every household I have been in with two eastern Europeans, the women does seem to do all of the housework and also hold down a full time job. I think it is cultural for the women to show what good homemakers they are. My son married a Hungarian girl and their apt. was a pig sty. I had to go over and clean it up after they moved out so that they could get their deposit back on the place. My husband has only done the dishes a handful of times in the past 35 years,he can fix a broken washing machine but he doesn't know how to turn it on. Most eastern European men seem to enjoy cooking once in awhile although I dout if they would cook every day.They would rather eat some bread and cold meat then to cook everyday. My father was born in Poland and he never cleaned or did any housework, he only cooked a very few times and it was Polish dishes that he thought only he could fix right.We had to make a big deal about his cooking or he would be upset. I do find that eastern European men do their share of what they call" mens" work.I never have to fix anything broken or work on a car or carry heavy things. In any case, I think it is cultural for the women to feel needed and take care of their man although many younger people are leaning more in western ways and sharing the work load. To answer your question directly, yes, if you are in eastern Europe, it is sort of seen as weak for a man to do housework unless he lives alone, of course if you aren't living in eastern Europe,it shouldn't matter.

Weirdstu said: "things have changed" That is FALSE. She must be a fat American woman that calls herself "Russian" when she has no accent or can't even speak Russian. NOTHING has changed in Eastern Europe contrary to idiots. I lived there for 8 years all over as a government contractor and the culture is VERY MASCULINE, and women even young women are expected to cook and clean. Men are told not to make a mess or give a hard time for the woman. Also Marilyn is WRONG too. I seen younger men and women couples,. and frankly speaking, the younger men are even worse than the older men when it comes to daily household duties. They seem to listen to western music pretty well, but when it comes to cleaning and sweeping the floor, the young men especially in a country like Romania, have that reaction like that 19 year old punk kid, you mentioned. They pus-y out and run. The older men at least knew how to change a light bulb or fill their car(if they owned one) with gas, but the younger men can't even do that right. The 19 yr old American boys fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan sure make better men in taking care of themselves than any 19 yr boy from Eastern Europe and Russia. Hands down. I worked in Afghanistan fo 6 months, and the Romanian troops there get no respect form even the Afghan National Army. That shows how bad they really are. Eastern Europe and Russia are not going to change that much because the culture is dominated by men for centuries, and the women always seek their leadership and approval. You have to read their history to get an idea of how complicated their culture is. It's not as masculine as Asia or Mid-East, but it's more masculine than the United States or Western Europe. So I suggest buddy, you partially follow their cultural norms, but don't give up cooking, cause hey, you are gonna get the best sex in you life, and Romanian women know how to f your brains out.

well yea alotta eastern cultures consider it un masculine but if its the way you are, dont change all your doing is being considerate of others...

omg, I read the answers and weep... so full of non-appreciative (and false) cultural stereotypes...

Yep, pretty stereotypical. I mean the examples, not the answer. But those stereotypes are not wrong. Over a thousand years a russian woman has been cooking, doing dishes, cleaning the house and other stuff like that, while a man was a worker, at the same time carpenter, plumbing specialist etc. And it stayed the same up till now. Now we can see women as managers, directors, even workers(care to guess where it came from?). Of course they have no time to cook! And the number of male cooks(as a profession) is increasing, because it's a job nonetheless, you can always make something to eat for yourself and almost every woman likes when you pay attention to her(see: prepare food). But when it comes to an ordinary russian woman, I'm afraid cooking is one of few things she's good at. So don't take it away from her(unless you really want to make a drama). Though they cook and wash and clean they are still saying 'I'm sick of it! [enter a verb]-ing all day and night and all you do is watch your stupid TV and can't even nail/fix/buy...' That is so common. Don't care what other people think. If you and your close ones like it, then there's nothing wrong with it. If not, well, there's always a compromise.