Lesbians Do Laundry

Appliance maker Whirlpool is launching a promotion with dating site Perfectmatch.com, in which they invite singles to join them at
special “Spin Cycle” singles parties in cities around the country. “Besides potentially meeting your perfect match,” they say, “you’ll get to check out some new, premier laundry products perfect for your lifestyle.”

Not my lifestyle, apparently. Whirlpool asks those who are interested in attending to “email your first and last name, email address, gender, phone number and whether you believe you are a ‘washer’ or a ‘folder,’ to the appropriate address below.”

Presumably they’re asking gender so they can make sure the number of men sitting around looking awkward matches the number of women doing the same. Shouldn’t they also ask sexual orientation, though? Or don’t they believe lesbians and gay men do laundry? Oh, that’s right. We dykes don’t wash our flannel shirts. They look more rugged that way. And gay men send everything out to be dry cleaned.

Overall, combining appliance sales pitches with dating seems like a bad marketing idea. But for a company that rated a perfect 100 in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index last year, the assumption of heterosexuality seems an oversight. Or maybe their research that “washers” tend to seek out “folders” (and vice versa) didn’t wash (!) for the LGBT community. Any insight from the audience? (I wouldn’t peg my partner or myself one way or the other.)

Regardless, if any marketing reps from Whirlpool want to advertise to a community of lesbian moms who do a lot of laundry, give me a shout.

(Thanks to Marianne Richmond at Blogher for the sighting.)