Love In Laundry

“Rekha, bring a cup of tea for me. I am back from office.” Yes this is the scenario in many households during the evening. We mostly all have witnessed such a situation from our childhood. Cooking, washing and cleaning are mostly considered to be a woman’s job. Sadly, this is regarded to be perfectly normal in our society. These jobs have become a tradition in our culture carried from generation to generation.

Our children have seen their mothers cooking and washing clothes. As a result they grow up as individuals who expect their wives to cook and clean for them. From the very beginning when a baby is born, we categorise them as ‘Blue for boy’ and ‘Pink for girl’. But we cannot completely agree with the notion that cooking and laundry is only a mothers job .Today, the top ranked chefs in the world are males and there is not a single field where women have not shown their expertise; be it being a successful pilot like Sarla Thakral (India’s first woman pilot) or being recognized as India’s first female stand up comedian, Bharti Singh, they have proven their worth in a male dominated society.

Since our childhood we have seen detergent advertisements featuring women. However, the good news is that there are many families who #ShareTheLoad. For example, in my home, my Dad prefers to wash his own clothes. Our India is changing and most of the couples are working, so it is high time now that when both the partners go out for work they should even do the household chores together. Performing tasks and assisting each other also enhance love and affection between the partners. In our busy schedule we often complain that we do not get much time to spend with our mates and loved ones, so it would be a great idea if husbands, brothers and fathers extend their helping hand to their female family members in laundry.

Why not find LOVE in LAUNDRY, or in more Indianized terms – ‘Pyaar ke do pal?’ We have to teach our kids from the very early age that laundry is not a women’s job. Kids imbibe things faster. What they see they learn. Let us all make it a point to share the burden of “she” gender especially in front of our kids so that our generation changes for good, and change will surely come, gradually. When our kids will see their Dad helping their mother, they will change their thinking pattern and likewise our generation will change.

Thanks to Ariel for showcasing an innovative advertisement and bringing forth a new aspect of laundry.

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.