Ruth Cowan held my attention throughout this book. Cowan marshalls so amny facts to illustrate her thesis that the book can seem dry from time to time as the facts keep pouring in. I found the idea that when men left the farm to earn wages, rather than raise crops and livestock, the paycheck became a visible confirmation of a person's labor. Cowan points out that by going out to a workplace, men changed their homes from producers(farm products) to consumers as they now bought food clothing. Therefore stay at home wives are merely consumers while providing a base for husbands to come home to. Living in the US in the 21st century, this categorization plainly contradicts are own nation's economy. We live in a country that is really based on service work. And what service is more impotant than cleaning, child rearing, cooking, and laudering.
At one point,Cowan cites statistics that show that housewives have spent the same amount of time doing the tasks around home in the present as they have in the past. Cowan mentions several times that labor saving devices have eliminated much of the drudgery of homework (should labor saving devices be renamed drudgery saving devices?), but changing expectations have led to a higher level of expectations: several dished served at mealtime rather than a one pot stew, cleaner - and larger - homes, driving to shop instead of using the products of one's own farm, ....
I see that some have pointed out Cowan's 'political bias.' Hmmm. If asking to be paid, or at least acknowledged, for putting in work weeks of over 50 hours may seem political, then I question some people's idea of fairness. To label housewives as mere consumers is a failure to acknowledge the seemingly/suppodely the work required to keep a household running. Cowan has made me deivest myself of old perceptions of housework and replace them with a healthy respect for mother as a non wage earner.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Natalia de la PeñaReviewed in Spain on December 15, 2024
Sociology of domestic work and home appliances
Excellent research. Sociology of the domestic work and anthropology of appliances. Even though it is 40 yrs old it still applies. Although it is an academic text it is very accessible and engaging. The quality of the book in terms of edition, paper, font, cover etc isn't great or particularly pleasing to the eye. The cover isn't sturdy, it is flimsy and gets creased and bent out of shape around the edges.Sociology of domestic work and home appliancesNatalia de la Peña
Reviewed in Spain on December 15, 2024
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