Little Suzy Homemaker, and the corresponding desire (requirement?) to keep a clean home, is so fundamental to the female gender stereotype, that women often deliberately let their house become dirty as a way of protesting against this imposition. Not feeling like a wife or mother is closely associated with not giving a damn about how dirty the house is.
But, perhaps somewhat sadly, this little ploy does not provide lasting benefits. Eventually, women, and especially mothers, will feel guilty about letting the house become too filthy. It is hard to imagine a men feeling guilt, or at least feeling the same amount of guilt, in the same situation.
Indeed, guilt as a driver of all things domestic is a button that clever marketers have learned to push in order to sell cooking, cleaning, laundry, and children’s products over the decades. But it is likely to be less effective for househusbands in general who will not give a damn whether they are living up to somebody else’s standards for being the perfect homemaker. There is not, and probably never will be, the equivalent of Suzy Homemaker for men.
Instead, marketers will have to tap into the male psyche with advertising that challenges his sense of competence. “Use the wrong product, and you are an incompetent fool” will trigger more purchases in men compared to trying to make them feel guilty about leaving stains in the laundry or buying peanut butter that has added sugar.
