I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. At
last there is some one who has raised its voice for the cause of women. When a
detergent giant like Ariel raises its voice propagating the issue of why only
women should do the laundry and urges the men to #ShareTheLoad, then there is
no reason why it should not make an impact on how the world envisages the role
of a woman. A woman is always considered to be the multi-tasker. Her domain
spans from keeping the home ship shape, looking after the kids, feeding them and
teaching them. They are supposed to run at a moments notice to carry out the
errands for her husband and her mother-in-law, father-in-law and any other
family member living in the household. To top it all she is supposed to handle
the laundry of the entire household.
If in a nuclear family then her husband expects her to
collect his clothes that need washing and which can be found strewn all over
the room. She has to gather them and ensure that they are perfectly cleaned and
immaculately ironed. A woman has to clean not only his shirts and pants but
also his smelly socks and undergarments. Earlier washing was a tough chore
which required lots of scrubbing but now with a detergent like Ariel that makes
the clothes shine like new washing has lost much of its grime. Still the
equation remains the same. The woman has to do all the laundry with no help
forthcoming from any side. Even the children expect the mother to do all their
washing and even give aggressive reactions when they find that their clothes
are not ready or up to their desire. This causes much distress to the women and
they feel hurt that instead of being thankful to her she is being subjected to
adverse comments.
In a joint family her lot is even worse and she is just the
laundry woman who is expected to clean loads and loads of dirty laundry. In
case the woman is not working all the work delegated to her are her task and no
big deal because after all she is just whiling her time doing nothing. On the
other hand if she happens to be a working woman she is not some one special to
be given concessions as all the women have been washing the clothes till now.
She may be bone tired after a grueling day at the office combined with the
hardship of commuting to and fro from home and office. She barely sips her tea
when she is reminded that it is time to prepare food. It’s not to be a simple
meal as all members would be eating together. The week passes by as she awaits
the coming of a Sunday when she can heave a sigh of relief. But people have
other plans for her like requests for special food and of course the pile of
clothes which are dumped before her accusingly implicating that she is the
cause for the messy clothes to accumulate. We have to find a solution to this
problem faced by all women. The message that has been passed through
generations tells the women that laundry is a woman’s task. This is the point
where a major correction is required. All mothers should teach their young ones
to be independent and learn how to wash their clothes starting from their socks
and kerchiefs to other knick knacks. A habit thus formed would not only make
them self sufficient but also make them partners in #ShareTheLoad now and as
they grow up.
This Herculean initiative by Ariel in conjunction with
BlogAdda is sure to reap the desired result as more and more men would come
forward to #ShareTheLoad and dispel the notion that laundry is a women’s task
only.
“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.”
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