While many people feel better for reorganizing their lives after watching Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, some men are feeling fussy about getting rid of stuff.
Tidying Up, which premiered on Netflix on New Year’s Day, follows Kondo as she helps several American families through the process of organizing outlined in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, also known as the KonMari method. The method consists of gathering all of one’s belongings in a particular category, and going through them item by item, keeping only the things which “spark joy.”
As a result, thousands of people have been finding new homes for the clutter that once filled up their own, flooding both in-person and online stores with their mountains of stuff. Second-hand shops and clothing consignment stores have reportedly seen a huge influx of donations and sales since Tidying Up premiered. A clerk for a consignment store chain told the New Yorker that the store was more crowded with clothes than it had been in the previous five years.
This includes items once owned by men. Twitter user @adultblackmale discovered a pattern of people posting items on the menswear resale site Grailer with little notes about how they’re doing this because of Marie Kondo, or because their wives or girlfriends watched Marie Kondo.
https://twitter.com/adultblackmale/status/1100602821156601856
Some of the listings are pro-Kondo, like this one for a leather laptop bag which says, “Used it like twice, been sitting in my closet ever since. Mint condition, just trying to Marie Kondo my life.” However, other men were frustrated, as if they’re being forced to get rid of objects they still want, or at least made to think about why they hold onto things. One post highlighted by @adultblackmale said, “Barely worn, wife is making me Marie Kondo it. Great.”
There’s more than a little bit of resentment over all this cleaning, apparently. And it’s not just over wanted objects being discarded, but over the whole process of, you know, being responsible for tidying up.
My wife watched “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” and now apparently I don’t ever get to stop cleaning the house for the rest of my life. Thanks, @netflix.
— Chris Tomlin (@CM_Tomlin) January 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/reganokey/status/1097408538161438720
https://twitter.com/ChrisBarnewall/status/1086685277953892353
In the end, if your partner is forcing you to get rid of an item that sparks joy for you in the name of Marie Kondo, that’s not fair, and it’s not in the spirit of the KonMari method. However, it may be worth asking yourself: Are you upset that you’re getting rid of things you want to keep, or are you upset that you have to clean, a chore you thought belonged solely to the woman in your life?
READ MORE:
- What happened when I Marie Kondo’d my social media accounts
- Marie Kondo’s Netflix show is sparking joy—and memes
- 10 essential self-care tips in the wake of #MeToo
H/T GQ