She’s a high profile journalist and author, he’s the editor of one of the world’s most successful news websites.
So how do Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men, and David Plotz, editor of Slate.com, juggle their high-profile media careers with their marriage and three kids?
Plotz opened up about his home life on an “ask me anything” Reddit forum this morning.
“It is more that the inequalities flow back and forth,” Plotz said when asked by a “feminist dude” if they share an “equal marriage”.
“We don’t split things 50/50 or anything like that. It is that there are periods when I have more responsibility for the kids and periods when she does, periods when my career is front and centre and periods when hers is,” Plotz continued.
He added that the marriage is not always equal but they do watch out for each other. “I don’t think it occurs to either of us that our own career or life is more important than the other’s. We went into marriage knowing that, and we’ve done a pretty good job sticking to it.”
They also have help: generous grandparents, a great babysitter and friends.
Plotz also shared with the forum why he discourages couples from living together before marriage. He said married couples get to start “fully anew” by experiencing life under the same roof for the first time, enabling them to overlook each other’s bad habits, and adjust to each other’s skills and flaws as need be. “I like moving in after marriage because it trivialises the trival,” he said.
Back in 2008, Plotz and Rosin experimented with living the “15 foot life” for a day – meaning they went 24 hours, no more than 15 feet apart. Inspired by a Buddhist couple who lived that way permanently, the two thought it would an opportunity to learn a little more about each other.
“The hardest part I think is the recognition of the mundanity of your own life,” said Poltz in a video about the day. “It’s fine when you’re doing it in your own mind but when somebody else is observing you do it you’re realising, what a waste.
“But it made us engage with each other’s mind in a way we’d never have other way done.”
“[It took away] the ‘what did you do today?’ exchange,” said Rosin.
Their marriage survived the experience.