Cleaning House

So, lately I’ve become a little more interested in the world around me. Perhaps it is because I’m 25 and trying to figure out how to be an adult, or because I’m supporting myself, or because I simply have more time to sit and read the news. Regardless of the reasons, I have been plugged into politics and world issues and nearly working myself up into an ineffectual frenzy of opinions as I try to figure out exactly what I think, feel, and believe.

Right now, I think I’m horrified. I can’t tell if things have gotten worse, or I just wasn’t paying attention at all before, or maybe both. Maybe after I left Mills College, that politically correct, uber-feminist oasis in the heart of Oakland (which is currently the hot spot for the Anti-Wall Street/Occupy movement), I put on a pair of rose colored glasses and forgot about injustice, inequality, and sexism.

My grandmother is coming to town this weekend, which is really exciting. I’ve missed her a lot since I’ve moved down here, so it will be great to have her around, if only for a couple of days. Of course, this means that my disaster of a house needs a deep clean. I don’t think that my grandma really cares too much about a little dust or disorganization, but out of respect to her, I am going to sweep, scour, and scrub down the house.  I’d like her to be able to be comfortable in a tidy, if not truly clean, house.

So, in a frenzy of activity last night, Bryan and I got to work. He took the kitchen, I took the bathroom and we dove in, armed with our sponges and soaps, to tackle the several weeks-worth of grime build up. Bryan insulated himself with his giant headphones, drowning out the sound of dishes by blasting what i presumed to be Minus the Bear, and was up to his elbows in blue dish soap. I, on the other hand, worked in an external silence, but cacophony of my own thoughts.

At one point I was on my hands an knees scrubbing grossness out of the grout in the shower and all at once I had an immense respect for my mother, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and the power of advertising for effectively continuing to propagate a misguided conception that cleaning is women’s work. Exhausted and sore from contorting my body every which way to get the last little bit of soap scum, I wondered how my mother did it. For years we had no house cleaner but her. She worked full time, made dinner, did paperwork, helped my sister and I with homework, and cleaned the house until it was shiny and spotless with not a speck of dust. How?

I come home from work and all I want to do is eat dinner (that I don’t have to cook), watch tv and then go to bed. I don’t want to scrub showers or toilets, dust, vacuum, and mop. I want to spend my weekends sleeping in and going out, not confined to my house for cleaning. And why do I feel like it has to be ME who does all the cleaning? Because I am a woman? I found myself, with my hands in toilet, feeling responsible for both the mess and the cleaning. I am pretty sure this is some sort of programming. It’s not like it was all my mess.

Take a look at cleaning product commercials for the products that I use: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, Swiffer Mops, Clorox Cleansing Wipes, and my personal favorite, Scrubbing Bubbles. In each of these product’s commercials, there is a very put together, made up, happy woman, usually wearing slacks and a sweater set, effortlessly wiping something down. Scrubbing Bubbles is my favorite though. I watch those commercials, wistfully imagining a world where cleaning products really did clean for you. When I clean, I am sweaty and covered in dirt. I wear junky, ill fitting clothes, and I am not having fun.

These commercials are targeting women and perpetuating the stereotype that cleaning is “woman’s work.” Victorian England was famous for developing the gender “spheres” where women were limited to their homes and were thought to be too fragile (read: weak) and delicate (read: stupid) to participate in politics, world issues, business and debate. Is it that different today?

Women’s opinions, thoughts and actions seem to mean less than those of men. Let’s look for a minute at the Herman Cain Sex Abuse Scandal that has been prominent in the media lately. Why are these women’s claims immediately brushed off and disregarded as efforts to simply get attention or discredit Cain for his opposition? Because these women aren’t respected. When a grown man tells the media that he was sexually abused by a priest or a coach or a boy scout leader twenty something years before, no one cries out in outrage that the man is now trying to get attention. That it happened so long ago, so it must not have happened at all. That he is just making it up for personal gain. That he wasn’t somehow asking for it, like women do. They investigate and take the claims seriously.

Not so with the multiple allegations against Herman Cain. Those women were hung out to dry. Now, they have faded back into the background, into anonymity  as my favorite Post Opinion writer Richard Cohen pointed out in his last piece.

So why do we still have this double standard? Why do we still divide the world into man’s work and women’s work? How did the media and advertising become so incredibly powerful, and how can we change our perceptions of women from the antiquated Victorian concepts to more modern ones? Sure my mom is and was a great house keeper. But she is more impressively a great career woman. Why don’t we value women’s independence, trust their word, and give them credit for what they do right, rather than deride them, discredit them, and limit them.

Maybe we need to spend some more time “cleaning house” and getting rid of our antiquated ideas about women, start airing cleaning commercials that feature men–not just Mr. Clean–speak out, listen, and unlimit ourselves.

And build a robot to clean for us.

How the 99% is the Cure for Voter Apathy and the Law of Non-Contradiction

Voter Apathy.  Two words that are almost a contradiction in terms, but, when put together, create a concept that has become a plague in our country.  I know I came down with it. Nothing has been more infectious among the younger generation, except maybe Mononucleosis, and if we don’t get our butts in those booths next November, voter apathy may be the kiss of death for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Obviously, protesters are very passionate about protesting. They have issues (as we all should) with the economic stratification in this country, the horrendous decline in the job market over the past several years and the unhealthy relationship between “Big Business” and the Government. Their belief in their cause inspires and attracts others to live in tents, march, raise their voices in peace and protest. It is a beautiful thing to come together for a cause and build a community of like minded people. But now the community needs to act.

How can anything change if we don’t create policies to change it? Protesting what we have in place is step one. We, as a people, are dissatisfied with what has happened in our country. So let’s change it.

One of my biggest fears is that one of the many closed-minded politicians that are asserting themselves for the Presidential election next year will actually win. I know things haven’t been what we dreamed they would be for Obama the last few years, but the man was in a terrible position, made worse by voter apathy. We young, idealistic people seem to forget that it isn’t just the big elections that matter, but the congressional ones, the state ones, even the local ones. We need to educate ourselves about the issues and the folks who are running for positions of power. Folks who will have authority and control, as well as decision making powers that are going to directly affect us. If we vote, we control who gets put in those positions and who doesn’t.

I don’t usually get on my Democratic high horse, but I’m crossing my fingers that the people of this country, especially the thousands and thousands of the 99% will recognize that the GOP is also a contradiction. Calling it the Grand Old Party is almost tongue in cheek. How can a party who claims to want a small government, minimize government control, also want to use their definition of morality to control individual rights and actions?

Look at what is happening in Mississippi right now. They are voting on whether or not a fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. What terrifying ways is that going to affect us, especially women? What about the rejection of Evolution? The emphasis placed on God and Religion in our government? (I seem to remember learning something about a separation of Church and State, but maybe I was imagining it?) The denial of global warming being an immediate problem for the human race? The fear of homosexuality that prevents equality? The tax cuts for the wealthy? The economic “stimulus” plans that will quickly stimulate more economic depression and job loss? Perhaps the “Grand Old Party” would like us to re-enter the “Good Old Days” when women were paid less than men, homosexuality was treated like a disease, segregation was king, and minorities had no voice.  Oh wait a minute…