Part I -- Introduction: happy wide, happy life -- The history of "housewife" -- The neolithic housewife -- Independent housewives -- Militant housewife -- The making of the American housewife -- Medicating the housewife -- From housewife to women's libber -- The dawn of supermom -- Part II -- The displaced housewife, or: married, pregnant, independent, fucked -- All work and no pay: why the First Lady has no salary -- Let's get divorced! And other paths to egalitarian marriage -- It takes two to tradwife -- The devalues housewife, the dismissed house husband -- The declaration of independence -- Conclusion: it's up to the women -- but it shouldn't have to be.
Summary:
"The notion of "housewife" evokes strong reactions. For some, it's nostalgia for a bygone era, simpler and better times when men were breadwinners and women remained home with the kids. For others, it's a sexist, oppressive stereotype of women's work. Either way, housewife is a long outdated concept-or is it? Lisa Selin Davis, known for her smart, viral, feminist, cultural takes, argues that the "breadwinner vs. homemaker" divide is a myth. She charts examples from prehistoric female hunters to working class housewives in the 1930s, from First Ladies to 21st century stay-at-home moms, on a search for answers to the problems of what is referred to as women's work and motherhood. Davis discovers that women have been sold a lie about what families should be. Housewife unveils a truth: interdependence, rather than independence, is the American way. The book is a clarion call for all women-married or single, mothers or childless-and for men, too, to push for liberation. In Housewife, Davis builds a case for systemic, cultural, and personal change, to encourage women to have the power to choose the best path for themselves"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.