In the age of social media, the mundane has become enchanting. Scroll through Instagram or TikTok, and you will see videos titled “Sunday Reset” and “Weekly Meal Prep”. What were once invisible, necessary chores have now become an aesthetic. While there is a joy in domesticity, this phenomenon raises a critical question: why are basic necessities celebrated only when they’re no longer necessities and styled for the audience?
The most glaring issue with this rebranding is the element of choice. For influencers showing #SlowLife, baking sourdough or hand-washing laundry is a deliberate retreat from a fast-paced life. However, for the vast majority of history and for many in the working class today, the slow life was not a lifestyle choice; it was the unglamorous mechanics of survival. Detaching these skills from hardship risks erasing the struggle of those who do them out of obligation, not aesthetic pleasure.
Furthermore, this trend exposes deep-seated prejudice regarding the value of labour. Historically, domestic skills were undervalued specifically because they were associated with women and the lower working class. Housework was “drudgery,” and domestic service was low-status employment. Yet today, when a middle-class content creator stages a cleaning montage with matching brushes and upbeat music, it is labelled “self-care.” This creates a jarring double standard: the act itself remains the same; the social capital attached to it changes depending on who’s doing it.
We must also consider monetising these skills. Domestic skills as a trend have become a marketplace. To properly engage in the vision of homemaking, one is often encouraged to buy expensive organisational tubs, high-end cookware or aesthetically pleasing cleaning supplies.
Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with taking pride in a clean home or a home-cooked meal. However, we must remain critical about how we assign value to these tasks. We should not wait until a skill is curated and perfected to post it. The ability to maintain a home and manage resources is vital knowledge, regardless of whether it looks on camera. True appreciation of domestic skills lies in respecting the labour, not its aesthetic.