The case for growing up and grabbing a broom

[mcjulie]

A New York Times essay attempts to make The Case for Filth:

A recent, large cross-national study on the subject by an Ohio State sociologist found that “women’s housework did not decline significantly and men’s housework did not increase significantly after the mid-1980s in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.” [..] So why

Comments

[mcjulie]

All so true! I got really stuck on the way he conflated reasonably necessary chores with hobbies like knitting, but he conflates a lot of other things too -- like the difference between being wrong about how many chores you actually do, vs. wondering how much chores done should be worth.

I guess that's why I'm so weirdly taken with the idea of monetizing chores. It seems to solve both problems at the same time. lt completely changes the conversations you have about housework. Like, you go from this:

Why don't you ever clean the bathroom?
Because I don't notice when it needs cleaning.
How can you not notice? What's wrong with you?
Just ask me to help and I will.
Why the hell should I have to ask you to help keep your own house livable? You're an adult and I am not your mother. (pause.) Okay, fine. Please clean the bathroom.
I will.
(Two weeks later, the bathroom is not clean, repeat conversation at a higher volume with more swearing.)

To this:
I cleaned the bathroom. You owe me $100.
What? But I was going to do that!
Too late. The window for bathroom-cleaning opened on Friday, according to our agreed-upon schedule, and this task was worth $100 for whoever did it first, also agreed in advance. I cleaned. You didn't. So pony up.