A messy aftermath after a large cooking task is understandable—but does hot chocolate count?
A video on TikTok posted by Ryleigh Clouse (@ryleighclouse) has gone viral after she shared the resulting carnage in her kitchen after her husband made hot chocolate using three different pots. Viewers in the comments were appalled—but his behavior might not be too much of a shock to researchers on gender.
“POV: Your husband makes hot cocoa…nothing else, just hot cocoa,” Clouse captioned the video which has received over 16.3 million views and 2 million likes. “Three pots.”
In the video, splatters of hot chocolate can be seen amongst various cooking vessels and utensils, leaving viewers shocked, and with words of warning.
“I love stumbling across these videos that inspire me to continue living alone,” @kaybr98 wrote.
“Please don’t clean it and make him do it,” @user9339559289185 wrote. “If there’s no correction, he’ll continue this behavior.”
Some, however, gave him a bit more grace. “Let’s not jump to conclusions here y’all,” @stepj315 wrote. “It’s possible that he created the greatest hot cocoa that has ever been invented.”
One man even spoke to the masses about how men can avoid the type of situation that draws ire from women on and off the Internet.
“Fellas. This will save you endless battles. Wash your dishes while you’re cooking. You know you aren’t going to want to clean after the excitement of cooking wears off. Just clean as you go. It helps pass the time of waiting for what’s cooking, and also you don’t have a nightmare to deal with (or try to pass off) after.” @the_gentle_christian wrote.
Men and Messes
Do men really need this sort of guidance when it comes to dealing with mess?
A 2019 study published in Sociological Methods and Research examined the ways in which men and women approach household messiness. The research found that men tend to be less penalized for creating clutter, even though they are equally aware of it as women. In an experiment where participants rated photos of cluttered and tidy rooms, men were judged more leniently for the mess compared to women.
According to the study, men are often held to less stringent standards of cleanliness in domestic spaces—a pattern that reflects broader gender expectations about household responsibilities. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to bear the brunt of maintaining a tidy home, making men’s messiness less likely to be scrutinized. Regardless of the fallout of Clouse’s husband’s mess, research shows that at the very least, he was likely aware that he made one—and that could be a suitable first step.
Newsweek reached out to @ryleighclouse for comment via TikTok.
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