Strange customs

It is strange to me to be an adult the 21st century and encounter other adults around my age, some younger, some older, some men, mostly women who do not know how to do things for themselves.

Most often I see this in the heterosexual or 'straight' culture. From mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, taking the car to the garage, paying bills, to cooking and cleaning and taking care of daily needs these people claim to not know how to do the tasks and express no interest in learning, instead preferring to forgo the necessary task until someone else will do it. I want to stress the difference between 'not liking' to do said items and having 'no experience. ' For example, I do not 'like' to cook or take the car to the garage, but I can and do DO those things nonetheless...if I can't persuade Diane to do them. :-)

What frightens me is women in particular but men too, seem unfamiliar with and a tad unwilling to undertake basic functional duties in life. And should they eventually learn to do them seem to expect undo praise for doing a task they believe should be done by the opposite gender or different socio-economic class. When Diane and I hung new shutters on the house this fall many people were taken aback. We were often asked if we were sure we didn't need a man to do the job. For the record it is not a hard task. Drill a hole in the wall, place the shutter over the holes, tap in the plastic retainer. About as difficult as burping Tupperware. The task WAS difficult because our drill was not powerful enough to drill through the wall requiring some research and a rental drill. While I'm not scared of heights the more powerful drill that we rented made being up at the top of the ladder challenging. In the end we did ask a male friend to help us but not becuase he was male but becuase he had done this job before. If I knew a woman who had done the job I might have asked her instead.

It seems to me more and more women are living their lives in some fantasy film version of the 1950's where tasks are gender specific. Their socio-economic class also seems to delude them into believing they they could never do 'x' (like mowing the lawn.)

As a lesbian I have no other choice but to do basic household tasks myself. There is no man who will clean the gutters or wash the car. As a poor person I can't afford to hire a company to do things for me. As a girl raised in the 1970's with women's empowerment I was taught that all tasks can be accomplished by anyone. I know many single women who, like me, have no man around so when the dishwasher breaks out come the tools. It always strikes me as overtly classist/racist/misogynistic when I hear someone say they can't/won't/never did a task and don't seem inclined to learn; When the neighbor's lawn needs cut but the wife never used a lawn mower and besides that's a 'mans' job or the husband won't wash the dishes.

No one is born knowing specific information. We LEARN how to do certain tasks. Everyone with more than 2 brain cells to rub together can LEARN. True some may be more adept at certain things but it doesn't prevent you from learning and making your best attempt. Knowledge is power.

Ladies...our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers fought hard to level the playing field...PLEASE use that education and take care of a few basic tasks for yourself. I'll congratulate you for learning I might even ask you to teach me but don't expect a party...it's just stuff...the routine everyday stuff of life...if your living you should know how to do it.