Lets share the load

The very word laundry conjures up a vision of pile of clothes that need a good wash. In fact it means that the clothes are dirty and some of them stinking dirty. The washing of clothes requires that the clothes are sorted first by color. The best policy is to keep the colored clothes in a separate pile and the white ones should not be washed with the coloreds as their color may run into the white ones spoiling them. A little care is all that is needed in doing the laundry.

Men consider themselves to be the master of the house. They are of the view that their domain is the outside world that is they are only concerned with earning, doing a job or running a business.

Men have been watching their mother, sister or wife attending to their every need from cooking food for them to washing their clothes for them on a regular basis. They do not know that all these women wash their clothes not because it is mandatory for them to do so but because they care for them and out of affection and love for the men.

It has now become a habit with the men to expect the women to do their laundry too.

The women on the other hand do not complain against this extra burden of work loaded on them. Children mimic the behavior of their parents, and the onus is on us to set the right example. It's time to end the cycle of prejudice surrounding household equality!

Mom! Where are my fresh socks?’
‘Didi! Why didn’t you scrub my shirt’s collar? It’s still grimy!’
‘Dad! If you see mom ask her to keep my football uniform ready, I need it tomorrow!’

These are some of the most common refrains often heard in nearly all households.

Why do 2 out of 3 children consider laundry to be a women’s job. This is because the wrong message has been passed down from generation to generation. Young girls are taught by their mothers the art of washing clothes. It is drilled into their minds that laundry is a women’s task and they must accept this as their fate. Both men and women forget that doing the laundry is just a matter of choice. So we the women and the men should take steps to change all this. Both the boys and girls should be taught how to wash their clothes from a young age. They should be told that washing their own laundry is not a shameful task but a matter of pride.

Since the men have taken the labor of love as their birth right and women do not protest the situation remains the same. No one has ever thought of bringing a change in the old pattern. Things are about to change when a detergent giant like Ariel has come out in the open to speak up for the women. When such a thing happens the men are bound to notice the plight of their women whom they care for and love. They will volunteer to join #ShareTheLoad campaign. With the men on their side the roles will change as more and more men will start helping the women by #ShareTheLoad.

 “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.”