https://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/housework3_f.jpg

I see so often that men are oh so oppressive to women because women clean more. But there is little discussion around the standard of cleanliness. The implication being that the female standard of cleanliness is the correct one and men not living up to this standard are oppressive.

We see from the graph that single men in the 1970’s are doing the same exact amount of housework as single men do in 2005. Single women also spend significantly more time cleaning than single men.

Couldn’t the table be turned on this discussion and the blame pointed back to state that female standards of cleanliness are often too high? Or they own too many knick-knacks and decorative ducks that need dusting?

What makes the female standard inherently the correct one that men need to live up to in this discussion?