Another harmless social trend has recently fallen on the liberal chopping block: cleanliness and organized pantries. Associate Professor of Marketing at Loyola University Jenna Drenten wrote an opinion piece published by the Los Angeles Times detailing how organized kitchens and labeled food storage perpetuate “racist and sexist” social structures.
“As someone who studies digital consumer culture, I’ve noticed an uptick in glamorized, stylized and fully stocked pantries on TikTok and Instagram . . . These online shrines say a lot about our cultural moment — simultaneously raising awareness of the unpaid and long-unseen labor that makes households work and also creating new unrealistic expectations that perpetuate classist, racist and sexist divisions.”
Jenna Drenten
Drenten explains that, historically, cleanliness has “been used as a cultural gatekeeping mechanism to reinforce status distinctions . . . nice people, with nice yards, in nice houses, make for nice neighborhoods.” She also claimed that tidiness carries “loaded assumptions” about an individual’s “responsibility and respectability,” insinuating that this instinct is somehow wrong and people should ignore it — or risk prolonging a “history of classist, racist and sexist social structures.“
She makes the assertion that the viral trend (dubbed “pantry porn”) sets unrealistic and unnecessary expectations for women in the home who “work overtime” to create beautiful and functional spaces for their families. This is the ultimate modern feminist point of view: any woman who enjoys homemaking, cooking, cleaning, etc. isn’t really happy, she’s just been brainwashed by the patriarchy. These are the same people terrified of the “trad wife” (traditional, homemaking female) trend which has recently been subject to media outrage.
Organizing isn’t the only thing being newly labeled as “white” or inherently racist. Numerous habits or traits that, until 10 years ago, American society regarded as good have been rebranded as “white supremacist.” Included in cultural cancellation are practices such as drinking coffee, being on time, exercising, professionalism, and even certain grading scales in schools.
Unfortunately for the staunch “antiracists” and “white allies” who pride themselves on constantly finding new ways to condemn their own race, and dub formerly “good” characteristics as “inherently racist” or “white” is what many conservatives call “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”
To claim that cleaning fads exclude minority races is not only false but also sets low expectations for people who are entirely capable of and often do have organized homes. In fact, several black female influencers have amassed large followings for their beautiful organizational content — because most normal people enjoy having a clean household — or at least enjoy watching relaxing, organizational videos. This desire is not rooted in racist motivations, so why are liberals so intent on making it about race?
