Best of Q: Should we lower the bar on housekeeping?

From the Best of Q, we convene a Q debate on the best way to divvy up domestic labour.

Like dishes left neglected in the sink, arguments over household chores tend to pile up and become increasingly unpleasant to deal with. And although recent studies show that men have stepped up in the areas of childcare and cooking, most of the cleaning is still left up to the female partner in heterosexual households.

Meet your debaters

• Stephen Marche has put forward a provocative suggestion for evening things out: instead of pushing men to do more -- an endeavor that he says has been a "complete dud" for 30 years -- women should be (and already are) doing less and learning to live with messier households. Good riddance to the days of ironing bed sheets and maintaining a sparkling parlour, he says.
  
  

• On the other hand, writer and cultural observer Jessica Grose argues that women shouldn't have to loosen their standards. She argues that the kind of chores we're discussing are often "bottom basement" basics, and that cleanliness is only subjective to a point. (Leaving cat vomit on the floor, for instance, is not the same as vacuuming drapes.) Don't let the baby eat dust bunnies, she says.