I’m amazed at how many men still expect their wives or
girlfriends to take care of all their personal chores, especially around
clothing. Women are still expected to buy their men’s clothes, wash them, iron
them, darn them.
That assumption went without question in my parents’
generation, and my mother took care of my father’s clothes. No doubt cursing
his casual opt-out but doing what was expected of her anyway.
I’ve always bought, washed, ironed and darned my own clothes
and I never thought of it as women’s work (Jenny and I wash our clothes jointly
in the washing machine).
My attitude partly arises from being on my own in a bedsit
for 7½ years. If I didn’t deal with all my clothing chores, nobody else would.
I’d just end up with piles of filthy, nasty-smelling clothes. So I bit the
bullet and did what I had to.
It seems there’s not much women can do about this forced labour,
except to refuse to do any of it. But then you’d end up with more filthy,
nasty-smelling clothes and the men would still refuse to change their ways. And
fail to detect women’s simmering resentment.
My father never did any of the household chores, but then his role was that of the "breadwinner" since he was self-employed and went to work daily. My mother who did work before marriage afterwards had an at-home job of laundry, cooking, shopping and child tending. The same was true of my aunts and uncles. It was a generational thing back then and while modern times have changed, i am certain that it is still the same in many areas and cultures.
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