After discussing the topic of "Gender Division of Housework" on class on Wednesday, I kept thinking of how housework was divided in my family and in other families that I am close with. I noticed how what I think is "normal" for my families division of chores and house work isn't normal for everyone else.
Growing up I never had to do chores on a regular basis. My mom would keep the house very clean and tidy and did all of the inner housework herself. The only time I was expected to "help" (I quote this word since we learned about the negative connotation it carries) was if a special occasion was coming up (a holiday such as Christmas) and I was only expected to dust the family room or vacuum for a little while. Many other families I know have weekly schedules of chores that the children are expected to complete and I always felt so bad for my friends when I was younger because I couldn't relate to the "torture" they were being put through.
As I have gotten older and more mature, I am starting to realize now how much I took my mom and all the work she does around the house for granted. Helping me realize how lucky I was to have such a hard working mom is my boyfriend who's parents divorced when he was in middle school. My boyfriend lived with his dad all throughout high school and only has one older sister who moved out and was not around the house often. Due to the lack of women in his house, there is obviously a huge difference in the division of housework at his house compared to mine. He has been taught for awhile now to clean his own clothes and dishes, clean up after himself, prepare food for himself, and many other "chores" that my mother still to this day does for me. It's very interesting, at least for me, to see the difference in lifestyles between him and I due to the differences in our upbringing. My boyfriend is very independent and self-reliant, while I am still very dependent and rely on my mom for a lot.
I suppose the moral of this blog post is how big of an impact the division of housework can have on someone's future and although chores may seem like a pain when you are young, they can teach important values you will use throughout your life.
I like how you openly admit that you didnt have to do much chores around the house growing up and how your mother was the one who took over those roles. I agree it does have some sort of impact on the future of somebody because you will probably have a hard time adjusting to being independent yourself. On the other hand, it gives you a chance to openly talk about an equal partner relationship with your current relationship. Since you do not know what it's like to have the "gender roles chores", its like a fresh start and a small step towards changing the "gender role chores" around the house because you now have an opportunity to experience all the house duty work and split them up with your significant other without feeling like "you are the female in the relationship, so you automatically have to do the dishes".
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