I don't know what the hypothetical "middle-class" family does. The point is...eventually...when the bag is full or when you have run out of clean clothes...someone has to wash them and that someone often turns out to be female -- whether she works full time or not.
Is enjoying a clean house the same as enjoying an SUV? Odd question. Is the enjoyment of clean air after the rain, the same as enjoying an SUV? Clean means tidy (you can find things) and hygenic (food isn't rotting)...besides, goddamn it, I've seen your house, it's cleaner than my house. Like waaay cleaner. ....
Joanna
ravi wrote:
joanna bujes wrote:
It's pretty clear to me that men take a very different view of it than women. At the same time, they seem to enjoy the comfort of a clean house. I don't know why we'd call it "bourgeois" -- people have been cleaning themselves and their houses for ever.
sure we (men) might enjoy a clean house, but isnt that the same as the masses today enjoying an SUV? actually, i am not even sure that i care much about a clean house (as long as the flush works ;-)). and i would agree that there are some parts of cleaning that have always been there and even make sense (hygeine, etc). but as i outlined in my list, isnt most of the stuff that the middle-class family, with the 2 1/2 kids etc., occupies itself with in the name of housework, is quite meaningless? do you really need to resurface the deck hardwood? or do the laundry not because you have run out of clean clothes but because the bag is full? or put the books away? or organize the garage? etc, etc.
--ravi
