This Cascade ad, with father and son spraying non-stick spray all over the dishes to avoid having to clean crusty dried food seems like a tired stereotype. “Doofus” dad has apparently no common sense or parenting or household chore know-how, and mom just rolls her eyes and saves the day with the solution. Double stereotype in today’s world…adding mom who is genetically programmed to be a better cleaner-upper.
But, maybe not…according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, both parents work in less than 50% (47.4%) of married family households, and, from another article/rant in The Guardian, “It’s not news that American women still do the vast majority of work in the home: a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, while 82% of women do some form of housework, cooking, lawn care or financial household management in an average day, only 65% of men do. When it comes to chores like cleaning or laundry, only 20% of men partake.”
So, then the questions you really have to ask are…
Why did she marry him if he’s such a dork?
Or, what would happen if she just looked at them and said…”okay, but just make sure you clean up after yourselves,” and then just walked out of the room?
Maybe it’s not the dad that is bothersome, but the mom…and the lessons she is teaching their son. Why after presumably complaining about men for hours over wine with girlfriends, is she raising her son with the same values and habits of the men she complained about?
But, maybe playing dumb is a good strategy. In 1987, truly, purely by accident, after only a month or less of marriage, I did a load of my husband’s whites…and accidentally (did I say really, truly, accidentally?) dropped in a red sock. So, all pink underwear and socks for the big guy. The end result? 27 happily married years later, I’ve never been “allowed” to touch his laundry again.
Maybe it’s not Doofus Dad, but really smart, conniving dad. If I just spray greasy, non-stick spray all over the counters and around the kitchen, I’ll be barred from ever entering the kitchen or doing dishes again.
Good one…dad.
