Housewife : why women still do it all and what to do instead Cover Image

Book

Housewife : why women still do it all and what to do instead / Lisa Selin Davis.

Davis, Lisa, 1972- (author.).

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 Either way, housewife is a long outdated concept-or is it?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.

Record details

ISBN: 9781538722886
ISBN: 1538722887
Physical Description: xx, 297 pages : illustrations, facsimiles ; 22 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York, NY : Legacy Lit, Hachette Book Group, 2024.
Copyright: ©2024

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-297).

Formatted Contents Note:

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.