Martha Stewart's Appeal to Feminists

When I was ten years old my mom tried to teach me the basics of housekeeping. Although she worked full-time she still served as the primary care-giver because my dad was the primary mess-maker. She took me to the laundry room to explain why it’s important to separate whites and colors and then later at dinner, on which side of the plate to set the silverware. “Mo-om! (I wined), “This is so mindless and irrelevant! I don’t care which side the fork goes on! I’m going to change the world!” (Yes, I talked like that when I was ten).

I held true to my promise and nearly flunked home-ec in junior high. My teacher completed my sewing projects for me because I convinced her not to ruin my GPA with the grade I deserved. Then in college I somehow managed to stay presentable for four years despite the fact that I threw every delicate and color into one load at once.

Twenty years later I am married to a supposed male feminist who is as clueless about good housekeeping as me. And the little life-sucker that we birthed has chosen me as his primary care-giver. Twenty years later I picked up a ragged “Martha Steward Living” magazine at our development project and took it home because magazines in my first language are hard to come by.

Suddenly a light dawned. We don’t have to live this way!

I don’t have to go around with stains on my shirts if I would just learn how to do laundry! If I cleaned my refrigerator once and a while we wouldn’t be so grossed out to eat what’s inside!

With titles such as “Grilled Vegetables 101” Martha Steward appeals to us third-wave feminists, who know all about 101 classes from our universities but still don’t know the basics about grilling vegetables. Thank you, Martha. Now if someone would just write some articles on “Parenting 101.”