You may be under the impression that we left the whole "women belong in the kitchen / laundry room" thing in the 1950s, along with June Cleaver. But according to British clothing company Madhouse -- or at least their pants labels -- domesticity is still a women-only club.
Yesterday, Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor at The Daily Telegraph, tweeted about a pair of pants that her boyfriend had purchased a few weeks prior:
Still so shocked at this label in my boyfriend's new trousers. #womenriseup cc @RosamundUrwin twitter.com/Emmabarnett/st...
-- Emma Barnett (@Emmabarnett) March 5, 2012
The label on said pants, right underneath where you usually find mundane laundering instructions like "Dry Clean Only" (which I usually end up discovering only after I've destroyed said garment) reads: "OR GIVE IT TO YOUR WOMAN. IT'S HER JOB." And I thought that Piperlime's misguided attempt at advertising to single women back in December was retro. Then again, in a society where we still have very set ideas about what constitutes "men's" and "women's" work -- even when it comes to dividing up the domestic duties -- Madhouse's literally inside joke isn't so surprising.
It wasn't very clever, either. As Barnett wrote in The Telegraph:
If the comment had been remotely funny -- I would have been the first to laugh and shrug it off -- as it really wouldn't have bothered me enough to photograph it, tweet it and then write about it. But it was the lack of any implied humour and the horrible surprise of such an incongruous message hidden away inside some trousers, that left me just plain stunned.
I'm assuming that the vast majority of men don't think of their female significant others as servants -- most men I know who co-habitate with their girlfriends or wives certainly don't. Shouldn't a company that makes clothes for guys give the wearers a little more credit? As for those men who do expect the women in their lives to take care of all the housework, it seems that "their" women aren't necessarily sticking around to pick up the dirty laundry. A study released in December showed that "domestic and gender equality" were key predictors of marital success. Basically (and I don't think this is a new idea by any means) everyone wins when couples share responsibility for their shared homes.
So, how to set this pants problem right? Here are several messages I'd like to find on the label of a boyfriend's jeans. Madhouse, take note.
LOOK: 8 Labels That Should Appear In Men's Pants
Follow Emma Gray on Twitter: www.twitter.com/emmaladyrose
Sexist Washing Instructions: Madhouse Pants Say Laundry's a ...
'Give It to Your Woman' Pants' Care Instructions Divide Twitterverse ...
People need to lighten up and realize the tag was done in humor, not being serious.
And yes, I'd rather my husband give his laundry to me to do rather than f-it up himself and have to buy a new piece of clothing.
"He speaks half in jest; whole in earnest."
However for me I see a company getting a cheap laugh at a woman's expense and lots of publicity over this stunt. I prefer it when the comedian pokes fun at themselves.
I know my sexism radar is set to a different frequency than the males around me and this will probably never change.
How is this label "joke" different than any of these?
http://stupidmancommercials.blogspot.com/2010/05/stupid-dad-commercial-old-post.html#comment-form
Emma, let's get you up to speed. It's clearly a women's world now. When it was a man's world, you would find things (like madhouse pants) espousing the virtue of women taking charge or funny comments about how women "do things better". Ever notice that men never took those personally? Now, women are in charge, and a bunch of smart british dudes decide to create a tag making a statement about gender repositioning i.e. it's time for men to be the second-class citizens (try to rise up), and yet you still can't accept it.
What's clear to me is that women are still not comfortable in their new lead gender role. Maybe not enough time has passed to be comfortable. Gender equality is nice. I believe in it in theory. Yet, i hear more these days about how "women will rule the world" than "let's all get along". I would just enjoy the leadership status and not worry so much about things like madhouse tags. Leaders are always ridiculed. Can you handle it? or will you just write another dopy article complaining about your second-class citizens.
Sure, issues involving women's health will always be politicized because it involves procreation of our species. You can't avoid it. But how can you escape the facts that more woman graduate HS, go to college, and graduate college than men. Did you know the recession hit men the hardest and progress continues to skew in favor of jobs women typically take? I'm a cultural anthropologist by trade. I have no stake or bias in favor of men or women. Having said that, the evidence of female domination is irrefutable, even if there are some bumps along the road. With clients I always stress they put forth initiatives to promote female leadership than female empowerment - which is so 90's. Sorry, but as an astuste observer, I see women are taking the lead, but aren't quite sure what to do with it. It's not a slander on women. It's more a question of how women are taking their newfound status to the next level. Even for men, it will be interesting to see how they adapt.
Also, do you know the real reason women make less? Let me indulge you. It's because when they calculate the numbers, they include women who discontinue work to raise children, so it skews the averages in favor of men. Of course no one wants to hear that because it doesn't do anything to empower women.
also, regarding your anecdotes, many of them are clearly backward leaning, e.g. women lose jobs when not sleeping with the boss. Really? What decade are you living in? Let me guess, you watch Madmen and still believe sexism from that era still applies. I work in advertising, and guess what, it doesn't exist.
Seems like I got my lenses in this decade. Did you get urs in the 80's? Sorry, but i keep hearing anecdotes, and not the hard facts. It's easy to get emotional about the subjects you present and therefore rally around it as the deciding factual matter on the subject. In oppressive countries, yes, women have a tougher time. If you look at the whole (and especially in the U.S.) which no one in this threads wants to do, it tells a different story.
See: United States, 2012, contraception-women's, rights-women's, equality-gender.