“Just a Housewife”

Over the centuries and across many cultures, we males (aka “the patriarchy”) have sold to gals a marvelously self serving narrative, perhaps best summarized in the saw “she had not the ambition or talent to forge a career; she’s just a housewife”.

Though details vary, most cultures organize labor sharing within the household by distinguishing the “breadwinner” from “the homemaker”. The breadwinner works aggressively to bring home sustenance; the homemaker, primarily, brings up the kids.

Which of the two is the more important, and the more difficult?

Through a variety of lenses, from survival of the species to survival of society, the homemaker is primary. A new generation needs be created and formed to itself form the following generation, without which both species and society vanish. The breadwinner, while important, is the supporting role, and also the less difficult. Few jobs are as complex, nor as unremitting, as successfully raising a kid, let alone several. Breadwinner flees the house each morning not so much to please his boss as to escape the screaming kids.

Should gals ever tumble to reality, they’ll speak of “she wasn’t up to being a housewife; she had to settle for a career instead”. And we males will no longer be allowed to reserve for ourselves the better paying, and more prestigious, careers.

In passing, there seems some reason for the traditional assigning of roles by gender. Offing the mammoth requires aggressiveness and some disregard for personal safety; forming the kids requires empathy. If the folks who advocate for more gals in the executive suite and in the legislature, because they possess a different skill set (empathy), are correct, the traditional rolls society assigns make some sense.