Skip to main content

Stuck with ‘Office Housework’



A man who doesn’t help is 'busy'. A woman who doesn’t help is 'selfish.'

Anytime there is a party to plan at my office, food to share, water to serve, coffee to be made, desks and office machines to be cleaned, floor to be moped etc, everyone in the office looks at me.

I am a woman, and I am supposed to be used to these things? And when I refuse to do them, I am called lazy, selfish or ‘not a wife material’. Yes, ‘not a wife material’.

When I started work at my current office, I was informed the lady before me was doing the dishes among other ‘office housework’ which I found appalling. 

I was then informed by her (we are in the same church) that she was forced to do so in addition to her secretarial job. I found this very wrong.

After a while and some remarks, I realized I was expected to do same, but I could not be bothered. I refused to play the position of a housekeeper when I have been hired for another job.

I however did not fully get out of these chores because whenever there is a visitor, I am expected to be the one to ‘serve’ the person. No one cares if I am having lunch or I am on the phone, I have to stop whatever I am doing and perform this chore.

The visitor would be in a different department with capable men but no no. They are too manly to do these things so I have to.

It got me thinking about the statement “a woman’s place is in the kitchen”. Reality is, even at our various corporate jobs, many women still end up in the kitchen. 

Women end up doing dishes, cleaning fridges, and coffee making machines, washing napkins and running errands especially those in administrative roles.

It is gradually becoming a norm that four or five employees will be in an office, no one is expected to lift a finger to do the cleaning (not that there are no janitors), yet everyone, especially the men expect the woman to do the cleaning.

How fair is this? They want to keep us in the kitchen at home, and now we end up in the kitchen at the office?  


Shared Anonymously

Labels:

Comments

  1. Efo Dela19 April 2016 at 08:58

    At my old job we had this problem. It was an Engineering firm and one of my team members was a lady and my boss would ask her to do chore stuff.
    At first we all complained then she just accepted doing it and it became a bit hard to complain.
    Sadly we accepted it as a norm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sista Clinik22 April 2016 at 04:54

      At least you guys tried to change this situation.
      Sadly, most women believe that these kind of jobs are theirs to do.
      They do not want to be seen as "not a wife material".
      Rome was not built in a day.
      Hopefully, we will be able to educate many women to break from this way of thinking.

      Regards,
      Sista

      Delete

Post a Comment

Say something about this post

Popular posts from this blog

Women, Marriage, Child Birth and The Blackmailing Older Generation in Ghana

S ome years back, in my late teens, I always told myself I’d get married before I was 23. The thought of being able to enjoy life with my companion in holy matrimony without being pressed (physically, psychologically, or biologically) for children was ideal. I wanted to travel the world. Know people. See places. For my partner and I to get our act together before creating and bringing life into this world.   Maybe the motivation came from knowing my parents discovered each other and started life together quite early. My mother had me when she was barely 21. Three kids down the line, my dad is now in his late 40s, with my mom, a little behind. Definitely, the ‘young old couple’ thingy is attractive. But. I’m currently in my mid-20s. And unmarried. So many things replaced the desire for me to tie the knot before 23. I realized, somehow, that there was no rush. My priorities had shifted. There was education, a lot of growing up to do, and basically life! And there was also ...
12 comments
Read more

Why must this be the first sentence uttered by men when you get pregnant?

“A woman can endure all; every pain, every hurt, every bruise, but not one that she causes herself.”   I have decided to share this not because I want to tell my story, but because I want to heal even though that seems like too much to ask right now. I am not in the position to make demands. It is my only hope that someday, maybe, I will be able to forgive myself and move past this. A woman never understands motherhood until she becomes one , or shall I rephrase; a woman never understands motherhood until she experiences what it takes and means to be a mother. It isn’t just about bringing a child into this world; it is about bringing yourself into this world. You are tied by the breath of life to the child you bring forth.  The joys of a mother are that; like the cactus plant she has faced death and triumphed with life and for as long as she lives she will never experience anything as encouraging and comforting as her child’s first clutch of her thumb. It...
12 comments
Read more

When The Past Comes Looking For Me: Part 1

I walk into the shower of the hotel with Adele's new album playing in the background. The water is comforting, but why am I here when I'd just stood under another shower nozzle at my friend's house 3 hours ago? What is it that needs to be scrubbed off this time around? What dirt could I have possibly accumulated in such a short space of time?   Maybe it is the hopeless cries of heartbreak I have had to endure over the past three days. This was my duty as the best friend; to comfort and bring solace to my grieving friend for her ended relationship of almost 3 years. I had never seen my friend like that, and I was there when she buried her father. My awkward self involuntarily went into shut down mode, clueless on how to help steer her back to being the jovial friend I enjoy. Was it the messy room, the unwashed dishes or the unmade bed I slept on all day? Where do I need the water to reach this time? Her boyfriend finally called and I am hopeful th...
11 comments
Read more