Woman
as the Homemaker
Woman is also stereotypically
defined as the homemaker, where she is not only responsible for the upbringing
of the children; she is responsible for all of the cooking, cleaning, and other
unpaid housework. Housework assumes some 3-4 thousand hours of a housewife’s
year[26]. In the 1996 Canadian
Census, it was found that the women spend an average of
4.4 hours doing household work and related activities, whereas men spend an
average of 2.7hours[27]. This occurs even though both men and women average 7.8 hour
workdays[27]. So, even through recent advancements in women’s liberation, women
still predominantly do most of the housework. Underlying all inequalities behind
man and woman is the unequal distribution of unpaid labor in the family[28].
In his article, "The Closing of American Mind" Bloom takes on a very
controversial view of the role of women and men in the family. He claims that by
nature, man is a selfish creature, who has no concern for anyone other than
himself. Bloom argues that women are no longer willing to make "unconditional
and perpetual commitments on unequal terms"[28]
because of the woman’s movement.
Bloom argues that feminism is at fault for putting these foolish ideas in the
minds of women, and if women refuse to be full time mothers then men will refuse
to be fathers at all. He claims that because men are so selfish, they will no
longer be gaining anything out of the arrangement, and hence refuse to make any
commitment to it. Motherhood is different than fatherhood, as women have a
natural desire for children and men do not. He says that women "charm" men
into marriage by withholding sex, and then cater to their every need so as not to
loose him. So, the woman vows a life long obedience to her husband at the altar,
and thus becomes his life long servant[26]. It is for this reason that
Bloom argues that woman should not pursue a career.
Housework is invisible, uncreative, repetitive, exhausting, and unproductive [26]. Because it does not generate any profit, it is
naturally defined as an inferior form of work as compared to the capitalist wage
labor [26]. But Bloom claims that it would be ridiculous and unnatural
for woman to be equal to man. As well as it being socially devastating, men
could not be expected to give up their natural selfishness when women were being
so clearly selfish.
Until recently, home making was not even considered to be work, yet homemaking encompassed tasks that maintained the function of the household including planning and preparing meals, cleaning and maintaining the house and its contents and other such tasks[21]. It also includes all the rhythms of mother work including coping with pregnancy, birth, infancy, childhood, and adolescence of her children.
Advertisements commonly play on woman's responsibility in both the public sphere and the private sphere as seen in the following magazine advertisements. The first advertisement is for State Farm Insurance, and it demonstrates woman as the "superwoman" who is not only a mother, she is a business woman and sometimes she just needs a little bit of help. The second advertisement demonstrates that for centuries women have been the main cook for the family.