World’s Most WTF Cleaning Instructions Say Laundry Is A Mom’s Job

There was a time when I thought the most WTF laundry instructions I would ever see were the ones that said, “Dry Clean Only,” because c’mon, dry cleaning? Why walk to the dry cleaner, pay $30, then walk back with a temporarily clean shirt when Febreeze exists? But now even the expectation that I will schlep to the drycleaner seems far less out there compared with the expectation that an adult would hand a garment to his or her mother, because laundry is “her job.”

The care label from this sweatshirt by British label Shoeshine was posted to Facebook by an outraged Italian politician who couldn’t believe that it was 2015 and a shirt came with a care label that said, “Give it to your mum it’s her job.” I can’t blame her.

Italian MP Federica Mazzoni  posted a photo of the care label to Facebook, where she took the label to task for perpetuating a sexist message against women. She points out that it is also offensive to men and boys, because it implies that men are not capable of doing basic laundry.

The idea is absurd, even as a joke. It’s problematic if the shirt is intended for a kid who lives with his or her parents, because we shouldn’t be making regressive, sexist jokes like this in front of impressionable children. I for one will not be buying my kid any clothes that imply it’s OK to treat me like that. And if the shirt belongs to an adult child, it’s even worse. If your adult children are capable of doing laundry but bring it to you because they don’t know how to do it or because they think it’s your job, they deserve to have their dirty laundry tossed back in their faces.

Photo: Facebook