NAMES IN THE NEWS : ‘Partners Equal,’ Marlo Says

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Men and women should share family responsibilities equally or face family breakdowns, actress Marlo Thomas says.

“I think that unless men start being equal partners in marriage, we’re going to have problems with families. Women can’t raise families all by themselves, anymore than men can run the world all by themselves,” she said.

“It’s unbalanced. It’s like a seesaw sticking up in the air. It has to have the humanity of both partners,” the wife of talk show host Phil Donahue said at a news conference.

Thomas, the keynote speaker at a Michigan State University conference called “Kaleidoscope: A Day for Women,” said responsibilities women carry in the home may be at the root of family problems and violence against women.