Friday, February 26, 2016

Laundry bigotry







 I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being
passed on to the next generation.


Tasks in my home are well demarcated, the burden of
changing bulbs and batteries, fixing screws, hanging pictures, charging and repairing
gadgets are all done by the Lord and mind you, these do not happen on a daily
basis and I have never ever ventured or volunteered to take part in any or all
of these activities. The Lady’s chores, on the other hand are the repetitive
ones such as laundry, vacuuming, changing drapes and curtains, ironing and not
to exclude cooking in that laborious list. Gladly, the Lord has never ever
interfered in my tribulations and we respect each other’s independence of the
daily grind.
Women, from time immemorial, have been stereotyped in
doing the household chores.  The routines
have been the trademark jobs of the women folk and despite the gigantic strides
by women in the work place and breaking the glass ceiling, this domain still
remains pre dominantly a woman’s forte.
Women wear different hats and are known to multi task
which have helped them to don many roles at the same time. No wonder we find
women wearing executive suits during the day and with aprons during the rest of
the day with comfortable ease and dexterity. Thus the women are taken for
granted owing to the easy switch from one role to another and the outcome is
the feminine gender working tirelessly day in and out, 24x7, 365 days a year!
Well, this remains the order of the day in most of the
households in India and elsewhere on the globe in spite of both husband and
wife becoming bread winners and financial contributors. The division of labour
in the segment of household chores, has not happened and the bulk of the household
burden is borne by the fairer sex!  The
break down needs to be even and equality should appear here too with all fiery
force and that means the women folk have to chip in with changing bulbs,
washing cars and the like!!!
But, I
was pleasantly surprised when gen Y in my house believed is turning the tide.  I was quite and truly so taken aback when my
son offered to fix coffee for himself, do his own laundry and iron his own
clothes, despite being a chip off the old block and usurping the scutwork,
which were hitherto held hostage by me!  I
was only too eager to share the burden with him and have the rare opportunity
of putting up my tired feet
(image courtesy:  www.reanaclaire.com)
Now, what this means is that the laundry bigotry does not propagate into the progenies and the
tedium and load is shared and apportioned well with a helping hand from
everyone!









6 comments :

  1. Even today the drudgery at most homes is women's lot even when both partners work.But the saving grace is the emergence of mechanical devices like dish washer,washing machine,grinder and mixies that do various jobs like cutting vegetables and mixing dough.These have made the life of women easier.But the happiness the women derive when their spouses chip in with their share of work is immeasurable and the women more often than not may decline the offer!!
    As far as laundry is concerned Ariel is always there to lend its hand in making the job easier and brighter!

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  2. The ad from Ariel too is a superhit like the product itself and little wonder that FB COO Sheryl Sandberg has showered encomiums on the ad! Yes, the appliances have indeed eased the tedium of work but I doubt whether the present generation will turn down an offer of help from their spouses, I think they will grab them with both hands!!!

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  3. Sharing the work is necessary when both the partners work outside, then it shouldnt be lft to the women to do everything but as far as homemakers are concerned, i think its unfair for the boys to be asked to pitch in , as they are already doing long hours.

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  4. Hahaha still rolling over with laughter at the way you addressed your husband as "the Lord"

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    Replies
    1. Glad that you found it humourous..no guesses on who the "master"is!!!

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