“Rent a Husband” in Moscow

Photo by Flickr user JD Hancock.

The city of Moscow will soon be launching a “Rent-a-Husband” program, available to its residents as a public service. Taking a cue from private companies that already provide these kinds of services to Russian consumers, the administration’s Rent-a-Husband plan will loan out “husbands” for tasks traditionally carried by men to paying customers. Need a leaky pipe plugged up? Have a broken window that needs to be replaced? These husbands will not only fix things around your house but also perform uncompromising binary expressions of gender and masculinity!

Rent-a-husband services emerged in Moscow to compensate for the notorious incompetence and inefficiency of local handymen and electricians. One company, called Husband for an Hour, was formerly a struggling computer repair business. Once they began renting out husbands—handymen—business was booming. They also rent out two “wives” who will do your cooking and cleaning. According to the Moscow Times, they advertise themselves thusly:

"You've just spent a long time in a store selecting a new light fixture for your hallway to perfectly match your new decor, but you're a beautiful woman with a killer manicure that was done only yesterday, and you're not ready to get intimate with a noisy and horribly vibrating drill. Who can come to your rescue in this case?"

As a woman, I prefer to stop moving altogether once I’ve got my nails done. Amirite, ladies?

The Moscow Times notes, however, that the husband services are particularly popular with the elderly and retirees. The city hopes to make its own rent-a-husband program affordable for low-income families.