This paper examines a portion of a research project conducted in Australia in 1979 to determine whether or not there are distinctions between marital disputes involving women who are full-time housewives and women who are in paid employment. Only 20 interviews were conducted in an accidental random survey, 10 with women in full-time employment and 10 with women who were full-time housewives. Two separate interviews were conducted with a husband and wife who experienced physical violence in their marriage. The survey found that, contrary to Nye's findings, dual-income couples quarreled with less frequency than one-income couples, although the transition in becoming a dual-income couple was not always smooth. Wives in paid employment generally continued to do most or all of the housework, resulting in some arguments about the lack of household help. In the interview with the couple, there appears to be a conflict in the husband which is possibly indicative of similar conflicts in other men -- a need to react according to a concept of masculinity that includes controlling and dominating women, while at the same time showing contempt for submissive women and desiring a balance of power in the relationship. A balance of power is not likely to be achieved, however, because of the predictability of having a submissive wife and the tendency not to change unless forced to do so by circumstances. Future research should examine the extent to which childhood disciplinary experience affects the choice of marriage partners as well as the relationship between interspousal economic inequality and domestic violence. Three references are provided.