I don’t feed into the President bashing on social media. I
avoid heated debates at work. And I didn’t join the women’s march that happened
in so many cities after the election.
But today is International Women’s Day, and – more importantly
– the “Day Without a Woman Strike”, so I felt it appropriate to dust off my
feminist ways and say something.
The significance of today, is that women who are able to remove
themselves from work and the economy today should do so. This means: skipping
work, not shopping, and leaving household and childcare duties up to the men in
their lives.
This is amazing if this happens. Such a powerful statement.
Does this mean I can just get up from my desk and leave right now??
This got me thinking: my job aside, what would happen if I skipped out on my duties at
home? My husband and I take a "sharing is caring" approach to our lives. But
there are certain things that are my “jobs”; duties and tasks that I just take
care or, or it’s assumed I will just take care of. Same goes for my husband; he
has his own unspoken “to do” list that gets us through our daily lives.
So what would happen if we both went on strike. And just for ha-has, our strikes wouldn’t just
be for a day, but instead lasted for a whole month.
Our lives would look something like this:
If I went on strike every day for a month:
- Family members and friends would not receive cards or gifts for milestones
- In fact, we’d miss every party, since we would never open the invitation, let alone RSVP
- Laundry would only be done on a “immediate need” basis; meaning, “I immediately need underwear because there are no clean pairs in the drawer"
- My husband would be late for work every day because his “alarm” (aka: ME) didn’t wake him up
- No planned grocery trips and weekly meals = more take out
- WE'D NEVER HAVE PLANS TO LEAVE THE HOUSE
If my husband went on strike every day for a month:
- We’d have 30 days of trash piled up
- We’d live with burnt-out light bulbs all over the house
- We’d never have a warm fire on a cold day
- Max would by stuck at daycare, and we’d be stuck with late pick-up fees
- Dust bunnies would take over our house
- Our lawn, garden and yard would turn into an overgrown jungle
- WE'D RUN OUT OF BEER
I'm proud the women who are standing up for their beliefs, and doing what they can do today.
But for my house, I'd like it very much if we didn't go on strike. Mama needs her suds.
