Luxton, Meg (1980), More Than a Labour of Love: Three Generations of Women's Work in the Home, Women's Press, ISBN 978-0-88961-062-0 Maybe my girlfriend and best glamour photographer in the world can figure it...but you have to know how to do it, Weissman, Judith Reiter. (1994). Labors of love: America's textiles and needlework, 1650-1930. Lavitt, Wendy. New York: Wings Books. ISBN 0-517-10136-X. OCLC 29315818. James Hinton, "Militant Housewives: The British Housewives' League and the Attlee Government," History Workshop Journal 1994 (38): 128–156.

In the Western world, stereotypical gender roles, particularly for women, were challenged by the feminist movement in the latter 20th century to allow women to choose whether to be housewives or to have a career. Changing economics also increased the prevalence of two-income households. a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Markham, Gervase". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.17 (11thed.). Cambridge University Press. p.735.After the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, these norms were gradually loosened and many women were able to enter the workforce. Shortly thereafter, a growing number of females began to be permitted to attend schools. Starting with the rule of the People's Republic of China in 1949, all women were freed from compulsory family roles. During the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, some women even worked in fields that were traditionally reserved for males. Nordström, Brita (1973). Skall familjen krossas?: vad blir följden om förslagen i Familjelagssakkunniga, Familjepolitiska kommitténs och Barnstugeutredningens betänkande blir lag? (in Swedish). Uppsala: Pro veritate. OCLC 185785651. The 1950s housewife had been prepared both at school and at home for her role in life; she took pleasure and pride in looking after her home and family to the best of her ability. However on the other side of the coin, she didn’t have a career outside the home and she had no income of her own, which left her dependent on her husband.

See I told you , i shot them in church pew. had my camera and i crossed my legs, the skirt rode up...and i was looking and admiring them. they are bridal with satin pussy cat bows. British Pathé newsreel 12 June 1947, "One Minute News". British Housewives League demonstrate in London. LS General view of the crowd of women in Trafalgar Square. CU a banner saying "We work and want" from the Bath Housewives league. BV of woman speaking from steps of Nelson's Column. [1] Under the Labour (Blair) Government Identity Cards Act 2006 ID cards were again to be gradually reintroduced; most Britons, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said, should have one by 2017. The British Housewives' League was not happy about that. The now much-diminished organisation's honorary secretary, Lynn Riley was reported as saying "We are animated about this now as we were in the early 1950s." "I remember when we joined Europe we were told we wouldn't need our passports to go to France or Spain or Portugal and we thought that was wonderful. What we did not realise is that we would need an ID card to go to Tesco." "This is a declaration of war by the state on its people." [18] Initial cards were introduced for those who wanted them in 2009, but the cards were abolished by the Identity Documents Act 2010 after a change of government. About 50% of married U.S. women in 1978 continued working after giving birth; in 1997, the number grew to 61%. The number of housewives increased in the 2000s. During the Great Recession, a decrease in average income made two incomes more necessary, and the percentage of married U.S. women who kept working after giving birth increased to 69% by 2009. [42] [43] As of 2014, according to the Pew Research Center, more than one in four mothers are stay-at-home in the U.S. Luxton, Meg; Rosenberg, Harriet (1986), Through the Kitchen Window: The Politics of Home and Family, Garamond Press, ISBN 978-0-920059-30-2

Treas, Judith; Tai, Tsuio (May 2016). "Gender Inequality in Housework Across 20 European Nations: Lessons from Gender Stratification Theories". Sex Roles. 74 (11–12): 495–511. doi: 10.1007/s11199-015-0575-9. ISSN 0360-0025. S2CID 146253376. Some feminists [5] [6] and non-feminist economists (particularly proponents of historical materialism, the methodological approach of Marxist historiography) note that the value of housewives' work is ignored in standard formulations of economic output, such as GDP or employment figures. A housewife typically works many unpaid hours a week and often depends on income from her husband's work for financial support. And she later joked that her way of dealing with the negativity was to take herself to Dior to cheer herself up, as she added: "I would be lying if I said it was easy every day as I get a lot of horrible comments on a daily basis so I just take myself to Dior to feel better. Jamal always tells me to be true to myself and not read the hate. I was always used to a certain lifestyle coming from old money and Jamal was able to provide me with that. We are just out here living our best lives." The British Housewives' League is a right-wing, non-party group that seeks to act as the voice of the British housewife, providing advice and encouraging active participation in society. The League seeks to defend the UK's independence and constitution, to promote Christian values, and to discourage excessive state control. In the past the League has campaigned against rationing, identity cards, fluoridation campaigns [1] in the 1950s and UK membership of the European Union. In modern China, housewives are no longer as common, especially in the largest cities and other urban areas. Many modern 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 until they are old enough to go to school. Nonetheless, the number of Chinese housewives has been steadily rising in recent years as China's economy expands. [ dubious – discuss] In India [ edit ]

An example of a person described as a "house wife" (spelt as "huswyfe") can be seen in a record of 1452, where Elizabeth Banham of Dunstable, Beds, is thus described. [33]

A common attitude was to accept the gender roles of the time as self-evident, but to advocate different kinds of improvements for women working at home. More radical people argued that the housewife was trapped in her economic dependence on her husband, that it was unfair that she was not paid for her work and that she was deprived of opportunities to stimulate and develop her abilities. They argued that the housewife, the woman, was seen as a person without her own understanding and capacity and was prevented from participating in society at large. Wilkinson, Amanda (13 April 2014). "So wives didn't work in the 'good old days'? Wrong". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 April 2018. In a traditional Hindu family, the head of the family is the Griha Swami (Lord of the House) and his wife is the Griha Swamini (Lady of the House). The Sanskrit words Grihast and Grihasta perhaps come closest to describing the entire gamut of activities and roles undertaken by the homemaker. 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. The woman who increments the family tree (bears children) and protects those children 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 joint householders is the nucleus from within which they operate in society. The traditional status of a woman as a homemaker anchors them in society and provides meaning to their activities within the social, religious, political and economic framework of their world. However, as India undergoes modernisation, many women are in employment, particularly in the larger cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, where most women will work. The role of the male homemaker is not traditional in India, but it is socially accepted in urban areas. According to one sociologist's study in 2006, twelve percent of unmarried Indian men would consider being a homemaker according to a survey conducted by Business Today. [15] One sociologist, Sushma Tulzhapurkar, called this a shift in Indian society, saying that a decade ago, "it was an unheard concept and not to mention socially unacceptable for men to give up their jobs and remain at home." [16] However, only 22.7 percent of Indian women are part of the labor force, compared to 51.6 percent of men; thus, women are more likely to be caregivers because most do not work outside the home. [17] Asia's women in agriculture, environment and rural production". Archived from the original on 30 June 2014 . Retrieved 30 July 2009. MAHILA SHAKTI SAMAJEEK SAMMITTEE (REGD)". Archived from the original on 30 October 2014 . Retrieved 30 October 2014.

I wish i could shoot this better. I used automatic focus and it needs to have the digital white thingee defeated. This top is silver threads and shines...like blinding light...and digital won't catch it... In most cases, women chose to work in the home. Work outside of the home was deemed unattractive, difficult, and daunting. Since the female was heavily involved with her children and domestic duties, certain risks were associated with a woman's absence. For example, a life in the labor force doubled a women's average workload. Not only was she expected to financially provide, but she was fully responsible for caring and raising her children. If the mother chose to work, child care costs began to add up, therefore, decreasing the incentives for the woman to hold a demanding job. If a working mother could not afford to pay for child care, this often resulted in her appointing her older children to act as the younger children's caretakers. While this was financially efficient, it was looked down upon by society and other housewives. In this time period, many believed that younger children were at risk for injuries or other physical harm if cared for by older siblings. [37] James Hinton, Women, Social Leadership, and the Second World War: Continuities of Class OUP, 2002 p.175 Dement, Alice L. (1960). "Higher Education of the Housewife: Wanted or Wasted?". The Journal of Higher Education. Ohio State University Press. 31 (1 (January)): 28–32. doi: 10.2307/1977571. JSTOR 1977571. Until around 1990, the North Korean government required every able-bodied male to be employed by some state enterprise. However, some 30% of married women of working age were allowed to stay at home as full-time housewives (fewer than in some countries in the same region like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan; more than in the former Soviet Union, Mainland China and Nordic countries like Sweden, and about the same as in the United States [20]). In the early 1990s, after an estimated 900,000-3,500,000 people perished in the North Korean famine, the old system began to fall apart. In some cases women began by selling homemade food or household items they could do without. Today at least three-quarters of North Korean market vendors are women. A joke making the rounds in Pyongyang goes: 'What do a husband and a pet dog have in common?' Answer: 'Neither works nor earns money, but both are cute, stay at home and can scare away burglars.' [21] In Sweden [ edit ]

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Similarly, there is considerable variation in the stay-at-home mother's attitude towards domestic work not related to caring for children. Some may embrace a traditional role of housewife by cooking and cleaning in addition to caring for children. Others see their primary role as that of childcare providers, supporting their children's physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual development while sharing or outsourcing other aspects of caring for the home. Maurer, Elizabeth (2017), How Highly Processed Foods Liberated 1950s Housewives, National Women's History Museum Michael R. Best (editor), The English Housewife, Toronto: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-7735-0582-2. Developments from 1960 onwards were very much a result of government action. Women's entry into the labour market was encouraged by the abolition of joint taxation and the expansion of childcare facilities. Joint taxation of spouses was abolished in 1971. The report of the so-called "childcare inquiry" ( barnstugeutredningen [ sv]) on pre-school education in 1972 was the starting point for the expansion of public childcare in the early years. By the end of the 1970s, 350,000 children had been enrolled in daycare centers. The fact that women were gainfully employed was described by leading commentators as a win-win situation for children too. The idea was that children had more difficulty developing independence if they spent their days in an overprotected home environment than if they were in a daycare center with qualified staff. [24] Andrei Lankov (a professor in South Korea National University). "Pyongyang's Women Wear the Pants". cuyoo.com (Chinese-English Translate Web. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014 . Retrieved 30 May 2014.