Every partnership requires sacrifice, but sometimes pride gets in the way of progress.

After one husband struggles finding work while his wife excels in a high-paying career, her playful nickname lands harder than she intended.

But instead of laughing it off, he digs in his heels — and their marriage hits a major snag.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for refusing to keep doing chores for my wife?

I (28M) have been married to my wife “Bella” (28F) for five years.

We both met and went to the same college. She was pre-law while I was studying animation. She graduated at the top of our class and went to a T20 law school.

After college, their career paths diverged even more dramatically.

While she was in law school, I had a lot of trouble finding a job in my field — or a job at all, really.

I ended up working in a kitchen as a line cook to help support us (in addition to the loans she took out) so she could focus on her classes.

For the most part, Bella has beared the brunt of the work supporting their family.

Bella got a very good job in a different state after she graduated, so I quit my job and haven’t gotten another one since.

We have no kids, a nice house for the two of us, and are overall living very comfortably.

So the husband takes a more supportive role back at the house.

She works very long hours, so I take care of most of the household responsibilities — cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, repainting the walls, and doing other work and renovations to the house.

But soon Bella starts referring to him by a hurtful label.

In the last six months, Bella has started referring to me as her “house husband” around our family and friends. I’ve mostly been letting it go, but every single time it bothers me.

And it really starts poking at his insecurities.

I’m already insecure about not being able to find a good job, and it makes me feel even more inadequate.

I finally reached the end of my rope when we were with her mother on Sunday. Her mother still doesn’t really approve of me.

He thinks Bella makes the situation even worse.

They were talking about taking care of the lawn and garden, and Bella said, “Thank goodness I have a house husband for that or I’d never find the time,” and then she smiled at me.

Then they both laughed. It was humiliating.

I didn’t say anything at first, but I guess she could tell I was really upset. She asked me what was wrong.

So he lets Bella know what’s been on his mind.

I told her that she needed to stop emasculating me and making it seem like I didn’t contribute anything to the household.

We argued back and forth.

She agrees to stop with the label, but the two continue fighting.

She told me she would stop calling me a house husband if I was going to “get that upset about it,” but that it wasn’t an untrue term and I needed to stop being insecure.

Bella refuses to apologize.

For him, it goes even deeper than just a label.

I feel like she doesn’t fully appreciate my value as her husband. I’ve stopped doing the chores until she apologizes, and she is beyond ticked off.

So she begins giving him the cold shoulder.

She’s been coming home, cooking dinner (only for herself), doing the chores I haven’t done, and then taking off to spend the night at a friend’s house.

Unsure where else to turn, he asks his family for advice.

I was talking to my sister about it, and she told me that Bella was wrong but that I was being immature in my response.

The thing is, if I give in, she’s going to keep thinking what she’s been doing is okay.

I don’t even know anymore.

AITA?

Sure, everyone is entitled to their insecurities, but how you respond to them matters too.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter doesn’t see anything inherently wrong with the term “house husband”.

This redditor pulls out a dictionary.

There’s something deeper at the core here that this husband clearly isn’t understanding.

Maybe the husband should admit that his plan is a bit short-sided and will surely have the opposite result of what he’s going for.

He might not like the message the label sends, but as these redditors point out, he fits the description to the letter.

Sometimes if the shoe fits, you have to wear it.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.