The Hinch Hype and Feminsim

There were two types of people on social media when Mrs Hinch rose to fame, those who said "I've been using Zoflora alllllll my life, it's nothing new" and the other people who went and bought crates of it to stuff their Narnias with tonnes of cleaning booty. Hinch got people's backs up, whilst the majority of people loved her content and wanted sparkling, spanking homes a lot of people questioned her mental health and diagnosed her with OCD, others called her sad and some said she was boring but she undeniably has something, whether she's your cup of tea or not she's clearly liked enough to gain so many followers in such a short amount of time and become a full-time influencer, the job of the decade.

There are numerous arguments for and against the success and popularity of this woman who made it to insta-fame and there are many different angles that people go in at to tear her down or raise her up. Even my own stance on the topic is ambiguous; in one instance I’m astounded and somewhat concerned that cleaning could become such a trend but I’m also guilty of believing the hype. 12 weeks off work is long time and much like Mrs H’s claims, I found clarity from post-stroke anxiety in falling into a rigid housework routine and found myself even shoving tumble dryer sheets down the back of the sofa on one occasion…just the one mind. I do have a barrsket that I shove my cleaning bits in and cart around the house whilst getting the daily jobs done and I am liberally spraying my soft furnishings with diluted Lenor more often than I’d like to admit  but I haven’t fully jumped on the Hinch bandwagon and that’s for two reasons;

1. I have this weird dislike of trends, you know that ‘it’s cool not to find cool things cool’ attitude that people have? I’m of those people; I try and tone it down because I’m a simple soul myself and don’t have anything going on in my life to make me any less of a basic bitch than marble Mary with her rose gold accessories and pumpkin spiced latte loving ways but I’m just not quick to jump in on a trend in case it's not as cool as people first thought and then I can smugly declare how I never thought it was cool to start with when the hype dies down.

2. I’m not buying into the Gleam machine. I find there’s something insidious about the affect that the management of some content creators has on them in the long term. I feel like individuals are milked dry upon discovery and soon become slaves to their brand and forced to spiel out the same old content until they’re (putting it bluntly) too old to get away with it anymore. There’s been a shift in long term managed Youtubers who have needed to produce ‘more mature’ content to suit their ageing and loyal audiences whilst remaining child friendly enough to reel in new subscribers from a generation who don’t know life before  Youtube and Instagram etc. To her credit Mrs H does state in her book that she’s aware that’ she can’t ride the cleaning product train forever and comments on numerous occasions that she wants to ‘stay grounded’ and remain authentic but, how much authenticity can someone retain when they become a brand?

From reading comments on her audio-book Facebook advert and various tweets and Instagram comments a lot of people seem to be outraged about the fact that she’s risen to fame for ‘just cleaning’ and when you think about it, it is outrageous that chores that most of us undertake have been turned into a brand with die-hard fans and given Mrs H an alleged net worth of £1m. I think most of the outrage also stems from the fact that although it’s a ridiculously simple concept, once it has been done it can’t be done again. Anyone attempting to produce similar content will only be considered as a ‘Mrs Hinch rip off' and accused of copying her content. This is something that the likes of Gleam will have undoubtedly taken into consideration and thus allowing Mrs H to wear her cleaning crown without threat for the foreseeable, I’ll be interested to see how her content develops with time. As a follower I’m becoming less engaged with the Procter & Gamble ads and I don’t need anymore tutorials on putting my sink to bed but hats off to her, there’s still something preventing me from pressing that Unfollow button and it’s curiosity.

The story of the down to earth commoner, woman of the people, representing the working glass, girl done good story never gets old. Look at Princess Diana and the Duchess of Cambridge; we were told and told by the press over and over that these women were 'commoners', just like us (with their aristocratic rich AF families and sickeningly expensive educations) and watching them rise to  the top engaged the world. The same has happened on an albeit smaller scale with Mrs H, she is 'just like us', she has a quiet life, living with her Handsomes and pottering about with Vera and Minkeh et al. Since discovery, more of her story has unfolded and kept people hooked on the Hinch Hype. For me it’s her health story, I also have a condition that makes my blood clot more than it should and I’m on blood thinners for the rest of my life and like her, when and if I get pregnant again I’ll be injecting myself daily with heparin. Following her pregnancy and witnessing her appear to have had a fairly easy time (all things considered) has given me a bit of hope and that’s not something I don't want to be letting go of.

Emily Clark very recently argued in the S*n that “Housework and women’s work have historically amounted to one and the same, and whether she realises it or not, Mrs Hinch is spearheading that misconception” I can see where Emily is coming from with this point however, women and men for that matter have progressed since the 40’s and Mrs H’s hubby is often seen undertaking the hinching whilst Mrs H puts her feet up and relaxes, there hasn’t been one instance where she said ever stated or implied that hinching is gender specific so should we be blaming Mrs H for women who choose to get on the hinching train, taking on the majority of  work with it?  

Housework and 'womenswork' may be one and the same but hinching and housework seem to be almost entirely different. Granted, they’re the same tasks with the same outcomes but hinching is more of a way of life and more importantly, a choice. Emily also said that not being able board the Hinch bandwagon makes her feel like a failure she claims that “no matter how fun hinching invariably becomes, it is still unpaid labour” I see the argument in this however, someone needs to do it regardless of whether you’re jotting your jobs down with a dimante-ended pen or not and no one is going to pay you for cleaning your floor and no matter how much of a feminist you are, the patriarchy can't be blamed for your blocked bog if you're living the single life.

I also appreciate the fact that those fans desperately attempting to emanate Mrs H's way of life by following her routines, shoving wardrobes in their garages and making backwards hinch lists etc. may be shooting themselves in the feet when it comes to sharing the house/hinch work with their male partners, as cleaning has been transformed into a hobby and, hobbies are optional just like Xbox, football and watching people play Xbox on Youtube but where to we draw the line and stop blaming influencers and take accountability for ourselves? As a blogger it's probably odd that I'm uncomfortable with influencer culture, whilst I appreciate that people are influenced by what they see on social media and thoroughly understand ads and sponsored content, whilst influencers are being clamped down on by the ASA and CMA to adhere to strict rules to ensure they're not misleading followers, shouldn't consumers take some accountability and not be so easily influenced? (before anyone pipes up...no, this does not apply to kids, we're talking about grown ass women here).

No one is telling women who don't live in spotless grey and white themed houses that they're not good enough. More often than not my house has a whiff of cat piss, I haven't caught up with my washing ever and as I'm typing this I've noticed a slice of Nutella on toast (Nutella side down  of course) poking out from underneath the sofa. I've  hoovered up twice and washed up three times, I've folded laundry, sprayed the sides and my home still looks like 57 toddlers have had a rave in the living room and my kitchen could be featured on some kind of Channel 5 scumbag tennant exposé  but do I feel like I've failed as a woman, mother and partner? naaah. Us womenfolk need to be as strong as our foremothers, y'know the ones who gave their lives for our rights, the ones who starved to death so we could vote. Stop allowing your worth as a woman to be determined by the comparison of your home to another woman's on Instagram.

I'm still undecided where I stand on the hinch hype and rise of the domestic influencers; I'm kind of there, outside the party with my Minky in hand cleaning a bit but mostly watching and lurking, waiting to see what happens and staying enough distance away so that I can shove my minky in pocket and smugly declare that I never thought it was cool anyway when the hype dies down.