The Chicago Reader recently published a snippet from a blog, in which the writer asserts that a woman who keeps her house clean is giving in to the patriarchy by accepting unreasonable standards of cleanliness. Apparently, only slobs can be true feminists. Naturally, I disagree with this asssertion. I am a staunch feminist and I like a clean house and I don't see a contradiction in both of those assertions. Since when is a dirty house a symbol of empowerment for women? As far as empowerment goes, I'll take equal pay for equal work over a dirty house any day, thank you very much. What about men? Is it OK for a man to keep his house clean or does that mean that he has also given in to the patriarchy (of which he is inherently a part)? What if you hire another person to clean your house? Is that empowering for you or exploitative for the person you hire or both? My mom cleaned other people's houses for a while, and she never felt ashamed for doing so. She needed the money, and the employers needed the help. It certainly didn't make her any less of a feminist. Unfortunately, "housework" traditionally has been classified as "women's work," and therefore is denigrated, even by other women.
Mind you, I'm not a neat freak and I don't clean my house every day. There's a thin film of dust on the furniture, a pile of magazines on the coffee table, and cat toys scattered ar0und my house, but the bathroom is clean, the cat fur has been vaccumed up, and the kitchen is fit for food prep and consumption. I don't clean my house because I think I have to or because I'm worried about what other people think of me; I clean my house because living in filth is depressing. There have been times in my life when I was too tired, busy, or depressed to keep my place clean, and it was no fun living there. The thick dust on everything, the carpet with ground-in dirt, and the grime in the bathroom did not make for a happy home. So I decided to quit living like that and try to keep my home habitable. Yes, it takes some work and organizational skills, but it's worth it to have a comfortable place to live and entertain my friends.
Mind you, I'm not a neat freak and I don't clean my house every day. There's a thin film of dust on the furniture, a pile of magazines on the coffee table, and cat toys scattered ar0und my house, but the bathroom is clean, the cat fur has been vaccumed up, and the kitchen is fit for food prep and consumption. I don't clean my house because I think I have to or because I'm worried about what other people think of me; I clean my house because living in filth is depressing. There have been times in my life when I was too tired, busy, or depressed to keep my place clean, and it was no fun living there. The thick dust on everything, the carpet with ground-in dirt, and the grime in the bathroom did not make for a happy home. So I decided to quit living like that and try to keep my home habitable. Yes, it takes some work and organizational skills, but it's worth it to have a comfortable place to live and entertain my friends.
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