The Cut - Parenting in Utopia

For years, whenever I was feeling exhausted or overwhelmed or underappreciated, whenever I began contemplating the number of dishes I’d scoured or meals I’d prepared or loads of laundry I’d washed and folded and sorted, I would say to whoever happened to be listening, “Maybe I’ll run away and join a feminist commune.”

It wasn’t a threat so much as a fantasy. Well, maybe it was a threat, albeit an ineffective one. I’m not exactly “commune material.” I have a stubborn, contrarian streak, and I like central air-conditioning. Still, it comforted me: the idea that one day I might live in a place where the burden of domestic labor, both waged and unwaged, would be borne equally by all who benefited from it.

“If you want me to do something around the house, why don’t you just ask me?” every man I’ve ever lived with has said.

Gallup says Americans are reading less, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise but is still a shame. If you’re looking for a good book, we recommend No One Is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood’s debut novel. Please, universe, have Pete Davidson date Martha Stewart next. Great TV news: Starstruck is coming back next month! Slate talked to the NYC student whose post about high-school life under Omicron went viral. While we’re on the subject of public education: The Indiana state senator who said teachers shouldn’t take a stance on Nazis sure is sorry for what he stupidly and irresponsibly said. And here’s further proof that Ina Garten should be everyone’s life coach.

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