A Woman's Work

Hello everyone. My first blog post is going to be a personal story that I experienced about a month ago. I was in Arizona at a funeral because one of my aunts had passed away. My extended family was all over at my aunts house having dinner. When dinner was over and it was time to start cleaning up the kitchen I jumped right into help. My cousin, who's mother had just passed away, got up to also help cleaning. I insisted that he sit down because he did not need to be worrying about cleaning up when he had other things that were on his mind.My Uncle Jim stated that I had my reasoning wrong for not wanting to have my cousin help clean up the kitchen. My Uncle was not the Uncle that had just had the loss of his wife happen, but another relative. I have a big family! My Uncle Jim said that my reasoning should be to tell my cousin to sit down because cleaning is women's work, and a man should not be responsible for it. I bit my tongue even though it had made me really mad because that is not how women are viewed anymore in society. On the other hand, my mom did not let the statement just slide by. She stated that we were offering to clean up out of kindness, and that men are just as capable of cleaning up as women are.  Not only did this comment make me upset, but it also made me feel pain for his wife. She is a really nice lady to marry someone that still views women as lower than men. What are your thoughts on this topic?