I was debating where to put this, because honestly who cares what I think, but I needed to get this out of my head.
I think we need to re-normalize the idea of being a housewife/husband and appreciate how hard that really is.
Historically, being a 'housewife' was much more than taking care of children, cooking meals, and keeping things clean. For most of human history, it meant being the manager of the homestead in all practical ways.
The wife, yes, cooked, cleaned, and looked after children. But she also spun, weaved, sewed, knit, churned butter, made artisan cooking goods, sometimes made artisan other goods, managed the servants [if any], taught the children their basic education, managed the money [depending on timeperiod], went to market, kept the house inventory updated--thus often also paying the bills; managed social events and social standing, worked the kitchen garden [along with the children][also not the sold food, the stored and eaten food], and generally kept a lot of the culture through traditions, stories, and lessons.
Yes, it varied depending on culture, time period, and religion. I mostly draw from European tradition, as I am not versed in African, Middle Eastern, or Asian cultures. But I also draw from hunter-gatherer societies.
Hunters would, well, hunt, often gone for days at a times. During this time, the woman would have to manage everything else, and if that meant doing farm work, or heavy labor, or a 'man's job', she'd do it. That's why the Victorian idea of the frail woman was so odd, then and now, and really only limited to aristocracy who could afford servants to do all the hard labor for them.
But peasant woman of all ages have juggled so many crafts and skills its honestly mind-boggling. And yes, it took a village. People specialized. But it was something related to the home, it was probably done by a woman. Men focused on being the provider, i.e. leaving the home and bringing back the food [that woman cared for], the money [that woman cared for], or other resources [you get the idea.] The man didn't concern himself overly with the home, because he had his wife to do it for him.
And yes abuse happened. Duh. Bad people exist in all time periods and certain ways of life make this easier than others.
But when its row together or starve, its amazing what modern boundaries simply cease to exist. When dawn to dusk every member of the family was toiling, there's not a lot of time for being sexist--it really did come down to 'we need this done or we don't survive winter.'
....anyways, I think we need to re-educate ourselves on how fkn badass homestead wives really were, and really examine just how much luxury, idle time, and idle hands has really screwed the pooch on how we respect women.
annaxmalina
romaincrisis
janainaart
izzy806
yousharknotpass
origamiaround
