“I am writing for #IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.”
Is laundry only a woman's job?
Absolutely not!
And why not?
Simply because it's not rocket science and anyone can do it. It's much simpler these days.
The below household statistics that emerged in Ariel’s survey conducted by AC Nielsen surprised me highly. The numbers are unusually high than what I had expected.
What do men do when away from home?
The statistics shows how much dependent men are on women for laundry. The first question that comes to my mind is what do men do when they are away from home for a long period. Don't they wash their clothes? They somehow take care of doing their laundry. Then why this dependency on women, the mother or wife when they are at home.
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Why this inequality?
Brought up in an all-daughters-family, I was not susceptible to this domestic inequality. Lucky me! It's a known fact that while a boy played outdoors, a girl helped women in domestic chores. This has been happening since ages. Household work only for girls. Pink for girls and blue for boys. The gender stereotype thing! So is the upbringing a reason we see these kind of results in the survey?
What about the media's role? How many of these washing powder and soap advertisements show a man doing laundry? Most of them depict a woman who lovingly cleans the dirty clothes.
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And the society in general terms a man henpecked if he does household duties. Yes, it's his duty also!
How many women feel laundry is a women's job?
The above survey does not have a number for this. My guess is that majority of women feel it's their job. The minute a woman is married she is expected to take care of household chores in her husband's house. And most of the times a married woman owns upon her this responsibility. A woman efficiently has to juggle between her house and office work. Why not give men a chance to showcase their skill? Why not help them take up multiple roles?
Laundry is no longer hard work and not time consuming either. The washing machines and powders these days have simplified the huge effort of washing clothes. Thanks to the improving technology!
On a lighter note, let us all be part of the Swachhata Abhiyan (cleaning spree) at home. It is a small step to improve the gender disparity.
Ending with a cool clip.
Image Courtesy: Google
