Housewives then and now

When thinking of a housewife, most people might think of the nuclear family image which portrays a happy american family, with perfect children and a happy heterosexual couple who are of well socioeconomic status. Within this image, the role of the mother is to stay at home, rear the children, and serve her family, especially her husband. The housewife's of the early 1900's did not only just stay in the home, Clara Shavelson made sure to tell housewives that " they shouldn't feel they just have to stay in the kitchen and cook, that they can play a major role in organizing and combating times..." (Orleck 217). Housewives and working class women who balanced both their work life and home life were encouraged to go beyond their heterosexual daily expected roles, and to go out and make a change in their community that would benefit women as a whole, along with the household. It was also said that for housewives "to serve [their] home best, the woman of today must understand the political and economic foundation on which that homes rests- and then do something about it" (Orleck 218). What I got from this was that their was a need for women to understand the economic and politics surrounding them in order to hold down the house, that staying in the kitchen and cleaning wasn't going to cut it. That their husbands didn't have to be the only ones educated on these subjects, that they too should learn about these topics so they themselves can make a better household, giving women a sense of power and independence by allowing them to have some control over their household. The women behind the housewife movement such Clara Shavelson pushed housewives to become conscious as their roles as mothers and wives and the significance of that role and that them being active with social issues, they would be " 'helping to create a better world for their children. And in creating a better world for their children, helping to create a better world for all children' " (Orleck 217). Housewives banned together and marched the streets, one big thing that they are known for are the meat boycotts such as the 1948 meat boycott which "began in texas when Mrs. R. D. Vaughan [who] called her friends and urged them not to buy meat from their local grocer until prices dropped...within two days there were 'Don't buy Meat' movements in seventeen Texas towns and cities" (Orleck 268). This movement soon spread to Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, New York, and New Jersey. The power of the meat boycott started by these women went so far as to the "U.S. Office of Price Stabilization ordered a 10 percent cut in livestock prices" (Orleck 269). These women showed the power that they were capable of not only to the general public but, to themselves, they noticed the impact they made on a local and national level.

Today, housewives don't seem to be doing those same kind of actions. I don't hear about housewives going on boycotts about significant issues that may affect them and the household, the only thing comes to mind is one million moms complaining about Ellen being a spokesperson for Macy's. Which in my opinion is nothing serious to boycott over. Housewives today are still expected to do the same as they were decades ago. They're expected to keep the household and the family together, to cook, clean and take care of the kids and cater to every need of her husband. Gross. The neighborhood I live in back home was full of housewives, I'm surprised they didn't make a real housewives of Santa Clarita, there was plenty of drama to go around. Among all the housewives I knew, they we're all different and some we're even critiqued. One housewife cleaned the house everyday, took care of the kids, etc and also helped with the family business from home and from what I heard she didn't receive much criticism. The housewife across the street from me on the other hand, was talked about negatively by other neighbors because her house was a complete utter mess, she went out on the weekends while I babysat, and never really cooked for her kids or her husband. She didn't fulfill the housewife role constructed by society and there fore was criticized and even called a bad mother. My mother on the other hand was looked up to by the other housewives since she is a single mother who makes a decent income. They told my mother how they wish they could have her independence and strength but felt they could never achieve it because they felt that they weren't strong enough to either leave their husbands or go back to school. They felt to dependent on their husband. They also felt they couldn't talk about it to their husbands or to certain people. I didn't think about it until today in class when we discussed how we are in a way silenced by our country to not say anything and be appreciative. There is almost the same sense in the city I live in, that these women feel they have to be silent because they are told they could be living a less or non pampered life and that they should feel lucky to not have to work and be able to  live in such a nice city. This silence I feel has possibly stopped women from wanting to achieve things in their own life or help others. A lot of house wives discussed how they wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they weren't a housewife, that all they do know is being at home.

It is interesting to see the housewives of then and now and how they were both expected to fulfill the same roles, but how the housewives of the past seem to have done more. There doesn't seem to be people pushing the housewives of today out of the household and to participate in something constructive within society, at least in my city there seems to be no one pushing them. It appears as if women aren't being encouraged to learn about politics and the economy like housewives were back in the early 1900's. Also, another thing to look at it is how the housewives back then were mostly white, even today, all the stay at home moms I knew were white. This can tie all the way back to white power and how white people tend to be more socio economically stable than minorities since our society privileges whiteness. The institutions that also tie into the topic of "housewife" is race and sexual orientation. This whole time we have been looking white, heterosexual women. What about non heterosexual, non white housewives? They exist too don't they?