the issue many men face is we ARE supposed to grind when young, then once we hit that 35-50 window, if we want marriage look for a wife. Thing is the bachelor life consumes many men, that they live it up, and hit 65 with no kids, and start seeing their friends die, family die, and then look in the mirror like what all do I have to show for it.
IMO if you bout that 50/50 partner life then you shoulda found your wife in college (assuming you went), post College you are better off grinding and building on your own (because no matter what women say they dont want to build and struggle with you), creating those safe guards where the damage is minimal if you get a divorce, so then you can enter a marriage on your terms because you know you can take the hit, and you are in your financial stride where post divorce you still will be making good money and probably come out with more money than you had before marriage.
And 50/50 isn't about depending on a woman its about yall lightning each others load, thus reducing stress, thus being able to put money aside for your kids, and have a safety net for emergencies (i.e a partner cant work, dies, laid off , etc). It's not fair to talk about you wanna be equal then still put the burden on the man, but these women pride won't let them pay bills and still listen to their man for logical reason even though he may be much stronger.
I feel if you going to do the 50/50 thing yall need to vet each other and examine strengths and weaknesses, and then come to your agreement on who will lead what areas, and for areas yall both weak in yall will figure it out together. If ya lady cant cook worth a damn, but you can, it doesn't make sense to put the burden on here. On the times you cant cook, guess what she orders takeout for the fam. People never have these convos they just jump into stuff trying to imitate what they assume is right when everyone is different.
