Any right thinking feminist will tell you that men and women are equal
and should have equal opportunities in life. However, in practice, many people
would still divide household roles in terms of male and female.
For instance, it is traditionally thought that the kitchen is the
woman’s place, and household chores such as cleaning the house and doing
laundry are traditionally left to women.
However, the innovation of new home technologies has seen these
traditional roles become less distinct. The LG TWIN Wash washing machine now
saves both time and energy by allowing one to wash two different types of
clothes in one cycle.
This has drastically reduced the time spent in the laundry, giving
women more free time to focus on other activities. But it has also raised
questions about why men would not take up the role of cleaning laundry.
Moses Marji, the East Africa General Manager Marketing for LG
Electronics, says the Twin Wash is revolutionary because it offers a solution
to the age-old problem of when to do the laundry.
“Homeowners will never think of laundry the same
way ever again because with TWIN Wash™, laundry day can be any day of the week.
It’s this kind of innovative thinking that has propelled LG to the front of the
pack in the washing machine segment,” he adds.
This also means that the question of when to do laundry is no longer
dependent on who spends more time in the house or who is traditionally supposed
to be the “home keeper.”
The progressive nature of home appliance technology raises questions
about what was really behind traditional gender roles. Did women get to do most
of the housework simply by default or by design?
With the rise of smart technology and intuitive Artificial
Intelligence (AI) taking over basic tasks in the home, women who would have
previously been busy at home are now free to explore traditionally male-dominated
careers.
While the cause of gender parity as often been fought in the areas of
civil action, it would seem technology companies such as LG Electronics and
others have stumbled upon a way to promote the same.
This is a good opportunities for technology companies to think through
how the design process is informed by traditional gender biases and how this
can be changed to achieve more progressive outcomes in their usage.
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