“She searched the calico curtains for specks of dirt and ruthlessly snatched them off the rods. Never mind that ironing the ruffles took three hours. She scrubbed the kitchen floor each morning with a brush and rag. She laid down not one but two coats of wax. She ironed the towels and washcloths. At four o'clock she'd often be at the sink, desperately peeling potatoes for supper, her housedress soiled, her frizzled curls clamped down with a bobby pin -- for she deemed herself the only thing or creature not entitled to meticulous, continual grooming.”
Shirley Abbott, The Bookmaker’s Daughter
In the early twentieth century the domestic revolution forever changed the role of women. Modern conveniences such as central heat, the washing machine and the electric iron altered the way women “kept house.” Washing and ironing no longer took days to complete. Women’s lives became simpler. Or did they?
The advent of modern conveniences such as the regulated electric or natural gas oven and cook top appeared to make life easier for the housewife because she no longer needed to worry about stoking her wood burning or coal stove. Unfortunately, new standards of cleanliness and hygiene (promoted by manufacturers of soap, detergents and health and beauty aids) actually created more work for women. In addition, prior to the invention of these conveniences, housewives had assistance with their household chores. In the late 19>th and early 20th century middle class urban families often had servants to help with the housework. By the mid 20th century middle class women “bore the full brunt of the work themselves” and as much as advertisers tried to convince women that housework was fulfilling, they were not persuaded.
Betty Friedan addresses this problem in her 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique. She discusses the pressure American women felt during the mid 20th century to be the perfect housewife. After World War II and the government’s attempts to “re-domesticate” women, the number of female college students dropped in comparison to the number of male students. Women began to marry earlier and the number of children in the average American family increased from two to four or five. These women were taught “they could desire no greater destiny than to glory in their own femininity” and that “feminine women [did] not want careers, higher education, [or] political rights.”
Today in Arkansas, women report that although modern appliances make household chores easier, they still toil as much as their mothers because many of them work in and outside of the home. While their husbands may be more willing to help around the house, they have to be continually reminded before taking action.
Shirley Abbott, The Bookmaker’s Daughter
In the early twentieth century the domestic revolution forever changed the role of women. Modern conveniences such as central heat, the washing machine and the electric iron altered the way women “kept house.” Washing and ironing no longer took days to complete. Women’s lives became simpler. Or did they?
The advent of modern conveniences such as the regulated electric or natural gas oven and cook top appeared to make life easier for the housewife because she no longer needed to worry about stoking her wood burning or coal stove. Unfortunately, new standards of cleanliness and hygiene (promoted by manufacturers of soap, detergents and health and beauty aids) actually created more work for women. In addition, prior to the invention of these conveniences, housewives had assistance with their household chores. In the late 19>th and early 20th century middle class urban families often had servants to help with the housework. By the mid 20th century middle class women “bore the full brunt of the work themselves” and as much as advertisers tried to convince women that housework was fulfilling, they were not persuaded.
Betty Friedan addresses this problem in her 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique. She discusses the pressure American women felt during the mid 20th century to be the perfect housewife. After World War II and the government’s attempts to “re-domesticate” women, the number of female college students dropped in comparison to the number of male students. Women began to marry earlier and the number of children in the average American family increased from two to four or five. These women were taught “they could desire no greater destiny than to glory in their own femininity” and that “feminine women [did] not want careers, higher education, [or] political rights.”
Today in Arkansas, women report that although modern appliances make household chores easier, they still toil as much as their mothers because many of them work in and outside of the home. While their husbands may be more willing to help around the house, they have to be continually reminded before taking action.