homemaker

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Two women cooking

Traditionally the role of "housewife" has been filled predominantly by women. Even to this day, housework is perceived by many societies as the natural role for women. In recent years there has been some political and societal backlash against feminist criticism regarding traditional roles for women. This backlash may be attributed to the recent decades' progress of the feminist movement and its implications on society, and may be compared to the backlash that took place in postwar America. The backlash could be seen, at least in part, in both the increasing prominence of "professional" housewives such as Martha Stewart, and a rise in Evangelical Christianity which views traditional roles as being conducive to the stability of the traditional family unit and the people therein. However, housework is not always a lifetime commitment: many housewives, for economic or personal reasons, return to the workplace.

Multicultural norms

In agriculture studies, the word "housewife" is occasionally used referring to the person who does the majority of the chores within a farm's compound, as opposed to field and livestock work.

India

Being a diverse country, India has different approaches in different demographic groups.

In a Hindu family, the head of the family is the Griha Swami and his wife is the Griha Swamini. The Sanskrit words Grihast and Grihasta perhaps comes closest to describing the entire gamut of activities and roles undertaken by the householder or housewife. Grih is the Sanskrit root for House or Home; Grihasta and Grihast are derivatives of this root, as is Grihastya. The couple lives in the state called Grihastashram or family system and together they nurture the family and help its members (both young and old) through the travails of life. They are a housewife team. The woman who increments the family tree and protects the procreated wealth of the family is described as the Grihalakshmi (the wealth of the house) and Grihashoba (the glory of the house). The elders of the family are known as Grihshreshta. The husband or wife may engage in countless other activities which may be social, religious, political or economic in nature for the ultimate welfare of the family and society. However, their unified status as a householder or housewife is the nucleus from within which they operate in society. This 'status', as housewives, anchors them in society and provides meaning to their activities within the social, religious, political and economic framework of their world.

In Muslim families, use of the term housewife (or its equivalent) is uncommon, even though housewives are very common and stay-at-home husbands are extremely rare. Muslim society sets different expectations from the husband and wife, but respects their individuality. Families are generally viewed as sets and not units.

China

In imperial China (excluding periods of the Tang dynasty when women had higher status in society), women were bound to homemaking by the doctrines of Confucianism and cultural norms. In most cases, the husband was alive and able to work, so the wife was almost always forbidden to take a job and mainly spent her days at home or doing other domestic tasks. As Confucianism spread across East Asia, this social norm was also observed in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

After the founding of the Republic of China in the early 20th century, these norms were gradually loosened and many women were able to enter the workforce (a growing number of women, beginning at this time, also began to receive education). Starting with the rule of the People's Republic of China, all women were freed from compulsory family roles. During the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, some women were required by the government to do heavy work that they were not physically suited for. This policy was later abolished.

In modern China, housewives are no longer as common (particularly in urban areas). Nearly all women work simply because one person's income is insufficient to support the family, a decision made easier by the fact that it is common for Chinese grandparents to watch after their grandchildren before they are old enough to go to school or are very young. Nonetheless, the number of Chinese housewives has been steadily rising in recent years as China's economy expands, and partly because Chinese culture is generally opposed to feminism^{[citation needed]}. However, the reverse of husbands staying home and wives working are almost unanimously frowned upon^{[citation needed]}.

Formal education

In previous decades, there were a large amount of mandatory courses for young women to learn the skills of homemaking. In high school, courses included cooking, nutrition, home economics, family and consumer science (aka F.A.C.S) and food and cooking hygiene. This last one can be the reason of a traditional housewife is always portrayed wearing an apron. More recently, these courses have been mostly abolished, and many younger women in high school and college would be more likely to explore resources on the topic of child development and managing children's behavior.

Male role in housework

Househusbands or Stay at home dads are seen in increasing numbers in Western culture (especially Canada and the northern U.S.), since the late 20th century. In developed East Asian nations such as Japan and South Korea this practice is less common.

There are several reasons why there has been an increase in househusbands over the past few years.

1. Disappearance of the types of white-collar jobs that men had been traditionally trained for. A great many laid-off middle-aged men have become essentially unemployable, thereby causing a role reversal for economic reasons.
2. Women are progressing into higher paying jobs. There are now financial ramifications in deciding which parent is to become the stay-at-home parent. In cases where the woman is the higher-paid parent, it makes more economic sense for her to continue to work while the man stays home.
3. The idea of fixed gender roles has become less prominent in the Western world of the recent years, allowing men to make their own choice of career, regardless of what used to be a requirement for them.
4. The men who choose this role may do so because they enjoy being an active part of their children's lives and do not want to be away from the family as much as their fathers may have been. Families vary widely in terms of how household chores are divided.
5. The rising number of single fathers and gay couples raising children mean that there is no potential stay-at-home mother.
6. With the growth of telecommuting, many men are able to work from home and be full-time childcarers at the same time.

Depending on the country or region in which a stay-at-home dad lives, he might find more or less social support for his decision. In some regions where traditional roles prevail, a stay-at-home dad might be shunned by stay-at-home mom peer groups. In order to find support for their choice, these men have created and joined many support networks.^[1]

However, despite the gains in acceptance of the role of househusband, there are still many men who are trying to find acceptance in this role.

One 2002 study suggested stay-at-home dads may face a higher risk of heart disease.^[2] The reasons for the alleged health risk, however, are not specified.

Modern mothers

Some modern women are embracing the role of full-time parent. Most of these women have left the paid workforce so that they can bring up their children, particularly through their early years before entering kindergarten. There is considerable variability within the "stay-at-home" mom population with regard to their intent to return to the paid workforce. Some work from their homes, some do part-time work, some intend to return to part or full time work when their children are in school, some may return to education, and others may never return to the paid workplace. Similarly, there is considerable variation in the "stay-at-home" mom's attitude towards domestic work not related to caring for children.

Some may embrace a traditional role of "housewife," where the woman cooks and cleans in addition to caring for children. But many modern housewives see their primary role as that of child-care providers—supporting their children's physical, intellectual, and emotional development. These housewives can be found in cooperative preschools and volunteering in numerous community organizations. Other aspects of home care (shopping, cooking, cleaning, yard work, home repairs, money managing, etc) are shared equally with their husbands or partners.

Feminist critique

Many feminists, such as Betty Friedan, have criticised the marginalisation of women as 'housewives '. Feminists generally suggest that 'housework' should be an appropriate role for a parent of either sex, believing that gender roles do not have any basis other than social conditioning. Also, they maintain that women can become socially isolated by being tied to their home. Some feminists would argue that the goal of feminism is not to close off any options for women, but to create opportunities for women to pursue careers in traditionally male occupations, as well as providing males an option to pursue roles that so far have been perceived as "strictly female".

Some feminists^[3][4] as well as certain non-feminist economists (particularly historical materialists) also point out that the monetary contribution of housewives' work to society is ignored in standard formulations of economic output, such as GDP or employment figures. Housewives work many unrecorded hours a week, while depending on their partner's employment to provide health insurance and household income. Proponents of collective economics argue that housewives' work does not contribute to the general economy, and should not be rewarded with tax breaks. However many feminists have refuted this idea, citing the staggering costs (e.g. childcare) that the state or individuals would be forced to assume in the absence of unpaid homemakers. Another view of this is the working spouse feels that the non-working spouse is lazy and selfish, because the unrecorded hours of work are at the discretion of the non-working spouse. While some stay-at-home spouses put in much effort, not all of them do.

See also

Look up homemaker in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Gender roles in agriculture
• Good Wife's Guide
• Soccer mom
• Retro housewife
• Home and family blog

References

External links

• Homemaking at the Open Directory Project
• Home Economics Archive: Tradition, Research, History (HEARTH)
  An e-book collection of over 1,000 classic books on home economics spanning 1850 to 1950, created by Cornell University's Mann Library.