making your own laundry detergent
No, I don't make my own laundry detergent. Yet. We buy Ecover because it doesn't smell and doesn't leave us rashy. However, after reading this stupid piece in NY Magazine, "The Retro Wife," I just might start making my own laundry detergent in revolt. Take that!
There are lot of problems with this article (not the least of which is that it's already been written a thousand times, and a thousand times better) but one that gets me really rashy is this constant, lazy caricaturization of women - mothers or not - who do things differently, especially when that thing doesn't earn them a dollar and/or isn't done in an office located outside of their residence. One commenter used making one's own detergent as a metaphor for some of the silly ways stay at home moms spend their bored days, without questioning the notion that everyone shares the same interests, goals and aspirations.
Not to drown in one detail, but let's take making your own laundry detergent and envision how it could indeed be an empowering political act. "Normal" detergents are composed of highly toxic chemicals, which end up both on your skin and in the environment. Taking the earth's, your and your family's health into your own hands is not only sound, it is a consumer action that can influence the way products are made, which in turn helps other families. I'm sure the author would have no problem with a father who made his children hamburgers from scratch with low-fat meat, instead of taking the kids to McDonald's, so why is it any less admirable when a mom takes soap/canning/running her home into her own hands, for the health (and budget restrictions) of her family? Sure, it's not as convenient. Nothing about being a parent is, actually.
There are lot of problems with this article (not the least of which is that it's already been written a thousand times, and a thousand times better) but one that gets me really rashy is this constant, lazy caricaturization of women - mothers or not - who do things differently, especially when that thing doesn't earn them a dollar and/or isn't done in an office located outside of their residence. One commenter used making one's own detergent as a metaphor for some of the silly ways stay at home moms spend their bored days, without questioning the notion that everyone shares the same interests, goals and aspirations.
Not to drown in one detail, but let's take making your own laundry detergent and envision how it could indeed be an empowering political act. "Normal" detergents are composed of highly toxic chemicals, which end up both on your skin and in the environment. Taking the earth's, your and your family's health into your own hands is not only sound, it is a consumer action that can influence the way products are made, which in turn helps other families. I'm sure the author would have no problem with a father who made his children hamburgers from scratch with low-fat meat, instead of taking the kids to McDonald's, so why is it any less admirable when a mom takes soap/canning/running her home into her own hands, for the health (and budget restrictions) of her family? Sure, it's not as convenient. Nothing about being a parent is, actually.
Comments
I don't know any at-home Mom who has "vast swaths of time." I'm not actually sure I know anyone with "vast swaths of time." I should get on that... so much more could be done!
When I worked in the bookstore people used to tell me how lucky I was to be able to sit and read books all day. I would usually look at them slightly astonished and have to break the news that at a job, even one in a bookstore, one just doesn't sit around reading books all day long...
People's perceptions of what other people's days are actually like are sometimes insanely skewed.