Last week I went on strike. Although is a strike really a strike when the person you're striking against doesn't actually notice?
It’s a question I asked myself as I watched a giant pile of unwashed laundry pile up in the hallway of our house.
Would my husband notice? (um, no).
While I could go into the minutiae of who does what in our marriage (all things being said, we’re pretty equal, it’s just his work hours are longer and even more inflexible than mine, so just can’t be around as much), the point is that no matter how progressive the world is becoming, I’d wager I’m not alone in feeling that we’re not quite there on the domestic equality front.
This week, I’ve heard from so many people: ‘If I handed by boyfriend a piece of paper to sign, he would. For all he knew I could be transferring the full ownership of our house to me, and he would never notice. As long as he doesn’t have to do anything about the house, or with paperwork.’
‘My husband can’t and won’t cook.’
‘I’m single, but if I go home to visit my parents, it’s always me and my mum doing the cooking and clearing up. Or me having to arrange any presents or family events. My two brothers never think to get involved. I’ve got a great job, own my own flat, so why does it all still feel so backward?’
You get the picture, right?
But are we really annoyed with men? Or the status quo? Because I very much doubt it’s a conspiracy from the male sex to ensure that the average woman still spends 4.5 hours a day on the unpaid labour of chores, compared to men who spend less than half that. However, it may well be the thing holding women back.
Which is why at Grazia we are tackling #chorewars (see Angela Buttolph's piece for more).
Melinda Gates recently said that she is raising her son and daughter to split the housework equally, and that if more people don’t challenge the ‘cultural norms’, ‘assigning most unpaid work to women harms everyone’. In other words, imagine what we could really achieve if we didn’t spend so much time on mundane tasks – or, at the very least, shared them evenly, without having to nag…
And it may seem, ironically, like the world’s most mundane campaign. But take a look atAriel’s new #sharetheload advert and you’ll get a flavour of just why it’s so important.
We want to hear your views: Email us, tweet us, write to us… We want to find out what we can do to tackle #chorewars head on…
READ MORE: Chore Wars: Why Are We Still Expected to Be In Charge Of The Housework In 2016?