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Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Return of the Housewife


So I have been looking around at my house. It is not that bad...if you like the feel of clutter. But I am wanting to have a nice decorated home. Something that despite my mother's best efforts was not translated to me. She did not allow me creative control over my bedroom. So at the age of 27 I am trying to find my footing in decorating my house.

Sometimes though I feel like this:

Then other times I am right on board with bringing back the 50's housewife. I know that apparently we are suppose to be shedding this skin and not wanting to be a wife that waits on her family hand and foot. But what if there is actually nothing wrong with that as long as we are getting respect from the people we are taking care of? I mean was not the problem with the 50's housewife not that she was doing everything but that she was not given the respect she deserved? She was being treated as a lesser person with nothing to contribute to society, instead of a highly valuable person with the ability to multi-task.

50's housewives so much more than people realize now. But instead of looking back on this part of women's history with pride at knowing how strong women were despite the lack of respect we put down those wives and then we put down the wives now that are striving to reach the level of past wives.

Wasn't the purpose of making sure women had choice so that they could CHOOSE if they wanted to stay home or go to work? Is it not counterproductive to put down the women who do what they think is right for their families?

This is where I am at right now. I will be done working in December, to give my family and I more time to travel and to have fun with each other. During this time I have decided to hone by skills as a housewife. I did not think this would become important to me but it has. wanting to keep a nice home for my husband and children is important to me. I am learning to bake and to cook healthier. I have now decided to iron every week so we can all stop leaving the house wrinkled bastards.

Have any of you noticed the return of the housewife? Do any of you have something you are striving to make better of yourself? This was just one of the things that became the main thing. How do you feel about the return of the housewife?

3 comments:

  1. We are indeed soul sisters. I love the whole 50s housewife idea. I love staying home with my children, I love baking and cooking like crazy. I HATE ironing, but I have the laundry room all nice and set up for that. We'll need a few thousand dollars for us to redecorate, but I do love to decorate the house with each season or holiday. I watch Leave it to Beaver for inspiration. June Cleaver is my heroine and I am not ashamed.

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  2. Tessie, I love this post. I'm a housewife, and I own it. I shun the title of SAHM, because I'm more than just a mom who sits at home with her kids. I'm a wife, I try my best to take care of my home, and the focus is not merely on the children, but my family and household as a whole. It's a big job and nothing to smirk at.

    I'm always striving to do better, learn another skill, to make my house a happy (clutter free) home.

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  3. I'm doing some research on this topic, and your post came up in the search engines. I totally agree!
    And like Aubrey I also shun the SAHM title as it conjures up in my mind a strung out women sprawled out on the couch watching soap operas all day, eating chocolate bon bons with screaming children ( I know - terrible imagination!)
    Thanks for this! I'm currently writing a book on this Return of the Housewife phenomenon (http://www.WorkFromHomeMamas.com

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