Why I’m saying no to laundry and yes to the Liberals

I’m making a stance at home. I’m fed up of doing the majority of the laundry. It just doesn’t seem to cross my husband’s mind that our home’s a much more pleasant environment to live in when there’s not piles of washing everywhere and, probably because I often end up doing it when he’s not around as I work shifts, he’s also in denial about how much laundry I do compared to him. So, much to his annoyance and calls of pettiness, I’ve decided that from now on I will only do my own washing: That way I will no longer resent him for doing his as well. We’ll have to move his piles of washing to a more discreet location, and I guess I am hoping that one day he will start doing more washing and we can do it jointly again, but all I know for sure is that the current system is not fair, is causing resentment and needs to change. I feel the same way about our political system.

There is a faction in the country for which the current system works but just as our previous laundry system worked for my husband but not for me, it is becoming increasingly evident that the current political system just doesn’t work for a lot of the people in this country. In particular the women I talk to are more and more of the opinion that this country is run by an out of date set of rules and by people who are out of touch with a large proportion of the electoral role.

The sad fact is I don’t know one female who is happy and fulfilled in her job at the moment, I know several who are struggling to balance work commitments with being a mother and more again who have put a career before having a family only to wake up in their mid to late thirties and realise that they hate their jobs anyway. Feminists keep saying we still have a long way to go towards true equality and they are right. Real equality will only come once inherently female attributes like showing emotions and thinking of other people’s feelings are seen as character strengths not weaknesses; once lesbians are celebrated by society as much as gay men, and once the ability to give birth, and all that comes with it, is upheld as the amazing and crucial aspect of life that it so obviously is.

A lot of us naively assume feminism is no longer an issue now we have supposed equality in the work force and the contraceptive pill, but hang on a minute: Having women in business is a good thing for men who, like in government, have set up the rules and culture of the business world we operate in to suit them. They simply sit back and watch in amusement as women try to fit in and do so about as well as Frankie Boyle would in a monastery: Some try their best to become one of the boys as Margaret Thatcher did, some decide to pander to men; making them coffee and organising their diary while treating other women with slight contempt and others put up a good fight, most are enlightened at some stage but ways out are hard to find. As for the other upheld great symbol of equality, the contraceptive pill; all that seems to have done is encourage both men and women to put off having children until for some it’s too late, and given men in relationships the perceived right not to wear a condom as they assume their partner will instead consume a daily dose of chemicals to override her natural hormonal cycle.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not so much men’s fault as ours for turning a blind eye to our own inherent truth. I mean, come on, how ignorant are we being as women when, for many of us, we had to read it in a newspaper before we realised the truth about the ridiculous myth that women can multi task better than men? For years, some of us seemed almost proud of our apparent ability to multi task; flattered by this Trojan Horse of a compliment that was simply another excuse for men to maintain the luxury of focus while their partners juggled their lives and put their health at risk in the process.

I don’t have the answers on what policies will affect the required social and cultural change for true equality, but I do know that because of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats revived position in politics more women around me are becoming interested in what’s going on and the old boys monopoly on running things seems to be about to topple. The Liberal Democrats have pledged flexible working for all, increased maternity/paternity leave and full disclosure by companies on equal pay. I guess these are all good signs, but I think that, more importantly, the introduction of proportional representation and the end of strategic voting would mean that not only could we start voting with our hearts but that there’d be a more honest representation of the people of this country in parliament, which would appeal more to female voters. I also think that women generally think of the bigger picture and of how their actions might affect those around them, that they are more discussers than rule makers, and that a government system that is based on debate and compromise would be more in line with the female mindset.

Who knows maybe now we’ll even get a female Prime Minister, one who acts like a woman this time, not a woman pretending to be a man.

Posted 04:27 PM on Fri Apr 23 2010

By Wedding Belle

1491 views, 2 Comments