Cleanliness

Cleanliness is a tricky subject. To some it's a passport to heaven since without it, you surely go to hell. To others it's a fuss about nothing.

When does cleanliness become dirt. It's a question many a housewife has struggled with as they see much through the prism of what will Mrs Hardbottom will think.

The concern that women have for their appearance is extended into being "house -proud" it's a form of insecurity of an over-education when young by their mothers about the format of life and how "what other people think", is important.

Scruffiness was never an attractive feature but many lasses carry this crippling burden around in their lives of, what will people think if I don't spend money on cosmetics and the latest anti ageing cream. But leaving that thorny subject aside what about "cleanliness".

As you may be aware I have had the pleasure of the two women in my life visiting me for Christmas. It's been great to have them once again under my roof, the sound of conversation, the ability to take up tea and toast in the morning, the cooking and then there's the shopping !!

Unfortunately there is also a regime of feminine prejudice regarding my curtains, the dusting and finally the A Team arrived with scrubbing brushes and busta stuff to overhaul the kitchen. It's not that I don't clean, it's not that I don't keep things tidy (a con session done away with by the swelling of people and parcels) it's just like everything with a man "it's proportional". I have no fear of the rye comment or the innuendo, I am above being concerned at what "others" think, what's the use of turning yourself inside out on what others might or might not think.

The image of the woman on her knees scrubbing and burnishing the front step of a terraced house was iconic in the 40s and 50s. It represented not only thrift but a proud outlook towards the immediate world on her doorstep. It was one way of sending out a message that we are equal if not better.

The man off to work before the sun rose had other worries, his mind lay outside the home, and rather in his place of work, his sport and his politics. His congregation was different and the topics they discussed didn't include cleanliness. 

Today the workforce is vastly changed as are the responsibilities the different gender assume but there is still a lingering fundamental difference between the outlook of a man and a woman. No matter how "they" try to change us and meld us closer to their ideal, we refuse to be swayed by the imagined concerns of propriety. We cling to our individuality we are proud of our individuality, our individuality is what marks us like the urination of an animal, we mark out our ground by the speciality we see for ourselves and whilst cleanliness is important it is not the "do all" I have just been subjected to.

That's not to say I'm not grateful. The house is spic and span, well at least the parts the laser of famine approval sought out for improvement. The caustic comments went over my head but it once more reinforced how different we are,  "long live the difference".