On the most recent episode of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Rishi decided to show Jen a taste of traditional Indian household responsibilities.
Or, as she phrased it, “wife training.”
Jen appeared to be in a state of shock as she learned about the extreme gender roles and expectations that she might face in a traditional Indian household.
Of course, that was when she first learned of it. Now, on social media, Jen has her own thoughts to share. Maybe she and Rishi found a healthier balance after all?
Jen Boecher took to social media this week to provide some apparent commentary on the latest episode.
She shared a glimpse of Rishi Singh stirring a large pot of mutton curry to her Instagram Story on Wednesday, March 15. (Everyone survive the Ides of March alright?)
“Rishi wears the pants AND the apron,” she quipped. “No complaints here.”
As we saw during the episode, after Jen caught Rishi in a series of partial truths (we’re being nice), he took her to a friend’s house.
There, she would get to experience the expectations that would come from marrying Rishi and joining his family’s household. Because it would not just be the two of them.
Seeta directly told the camera that she did not expect for Jen to have an easy time learning this. Jen is from America, she noted, where she has a cultural expectation of gender equality. Here, she would experience something very different.
Rishi phrased this as “learning responsibility in a joint family,” in contrast to what Jen called it.
“Indian parents have a lot of expectations for a future daughter-in-law,” he told the camera.
“But an Indian girl already know what their duty and responsibilities.”
Meanwhile, Jen called this “wife training.” And it’s easy to see why.
She learned about rising well before dawn to prepare tea and food.
And she learned that the expectation was to serve the men of the household before enjoying her own food.
Jen understood some of this ahead of time. But a lot of it was new to her.
“I knew Rishi lived with his family and had obligations to take care of the family in every way,” she told the cameras.
“But I thought that these were things that he could do from our family home or apartment,” Jen reasoned. That seems natural; without him telling her, why would she think otherwise?
Jen also confessed that she felt “a little offended” that Rishi clearly felt that she needed training “to learn how to be a wife.”
Meanwhile, she felt “overwhelmed” upon learning that she might face an expectation to spend her entire day cleaning the home. All day, every day.
And while this is news to her, clearly, Rishi knew about all of these expectations and more the entire time.
In fact, Rishi’s mother told the cameras that she looked forward to Rishi entering a marriage (an arranged one) so that she would have a daughter-in-law to manage the household.
(A regular reminder that we have no idea what Rishi’s family believes the cameras are there for; Rishi and producers could have told them any cover story, but what?)
Jen’s social media post seems to indicate that she and Rishi found a healthy balance of labor. But if so, how does his family feel about it?