“The Politics of Housework” by Pat Mainardi focuses on gender roles and how housework relates to it. This week we discusses how “the personal is political” and this reading is a great example of this concept. Women being expected to be responsible for housework is a personal issue rooted in political issues. As a result of the patriarchy and gender roles, housework has become a feminine task seen to be something that should be done by women. Mainardi talks about women being under the power of men, whether it’s a father or husband, and in a role of servitude. Society has conditioned women to be a supporter and servant, to be dependent on men a living to please them. Mainardi expresses how women were almost brainwashed to find contentment in doing housework and other duties associated with their role as a women. Politics contributed to this brainwash, creating a hierarchal society that puts women down. Making liberation seem unachievable or unappealing for most women because of the power men have over them. “The Politics of Housework” showed how intertwined personal issues, especially for women, are with political issues. Most people wouldn’t relate housework being something expected to be done solely by women to politics. This reading really opened my eyes to how much gender roles are instilled in us and our society.