On Chambermaiding

So I'm sitting in my filthy bedroom reading Tiger Beatdown's commentary* on the We Are All Chambermaids slogan at the French rallies in support of the woman who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape. Flavia wrote that the slogan isn't real solidarity since it erases the different levels of vulnerability that women experience across the class and power spectrum. And I thought, I would like a maid.

I graduate in two weeks and whenever I am not doing school stuff I am sleeping, and at this point I can't wash my dishes or my housemates will realize I have 30 dishes hoarded in my room. And I needed my bookcases for an installation I'm doing on campus, so I just piled everything in the corner. And I can't take two steps with all of this dumb lighting equipment everywhere. So, I would like to be reciprocal maids with someone. I could clean her place when I am bored and she was busy, and hopefully our finals would be at different times so we could both have a clean room all the time. This won'tt do a thing for women who are maids for a job, but I think it is a good way for me to not clean up after myself without being awful about it.

I have worked as a maid for four months or so at the hostel, and it was okay. It was nice because it isn't rich people who stay there. A lot of the regulars don't have permanent housing so I kind of liked making sure at least the bathroom was dehaired for them. Anyway, now I have to get dressed up Stepford wives style because a friend is coming over to watch me clean.

*here is the link, but on my computer each word is a separate line.