Qual é o significado da expressão calls the shots ?

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LIVING TOGETHER 
TAKING THE NEXT STEP

Couples who move in together may be rejecting, at least temporarily. Old-fashioned notions of marriage. But when it comes to deciding whether to wed, they fall into the same gender roles as staunch traditionalists.

In other words, the guy still calls the shots. This according to a survey that looked at nearly 400 cohabiting couples and what happens when only one partner thinks the twosome will eventually marry.

If the man is the one hearing wedding bells, it seems, a couple is nearly as likely to marry as when both partners plan to say “I do”. But if it's the woman who hopes to wed, the couple is only half as likely to wind up at the altar.

All of which surpised Bowling Green State University's Wendy Manning, Ph.D. “This is a group that subscribes to less traditional gender roles. So we just assumed they would behave in a less traditional manner.” -Alyssa Rarraport Psychology Today – March/April 1996_

Fonte: GAMA, Angela N. M. In Introdução à leitura em inglês. RJ: Gama Filho, 2001, p.76.