In an experiment designed to test out one of the oldest arguments in the battle of the sexes, a British village is to be temporarily stripped of its womenfolk to see if the remaining men are able to cope.
The stunt will be carried out in Harby, a tiny community in northern England, and filmed for a BBC reality television series called The Week the Women Went, The Times newspaper reported in its Thursday edition.
Eighty women will be put up at a hotel for seven days, leaving their husbands and sons to grapple with the likes of babies, washing and shopping.
The BBC has described the forthcoming series as “an intriguing social experiment”, but some locals are less sure, the report said.
Such is the worry that the village — and especially its men — might be portrayed in a bad light, the entire population is to hold an emergency meeting, The Times said.
“The village is certainly divided over this, and there has definitely been some bad feeling that was not here before the BBC came along,” parish council chairperson Richard Croft told the paper.
The producer of the series told the paper that while some men are expected to cope well, in other households “domestic chaos will ensue”. — AFP