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HOMEMAKING AND MARRIAGE: GENDER ROLES

19th Century:

Early nineteenth-century ideals required be the responsibility of the woman; “the wife is properly supposed to be the light and centre of the home.” Traditional wives who stayed home and did not work were required by social ideals to create and maintain a peaceful space to provide to her husband and children. For women in a pre-modern environment, “it is the duty and privilege and solemn responsibility, which make this art of home-making more interesting and important to her than any other art in the world.”

20th Century:

The twentieth century began with similar homemaking roles as the 1900s; however, the century concluded with a much different perception. In the late 1990s, marriage consisted of both wife and husband participating in homemaking. Professors at the University of Southern California, Darlene Piña and Vern Bengtson, extensively researched marriage dynamics and household labor in the late twentieth century. They concluded that “all wives benefit equally by their husbands’ greater involvement in household labor.” (Piña/Bengston) The division of labor within the home promotes a healthy relationship between man and wife. Concluding, that likelihood of increased happiness within marriage is vastly improved when homemaking is shared with the husband.

21st Century:

According to a 2015 survey of American Households by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 50% of women are ultimately the majority of the housework. Men reported doing housework – such as cleaning or doing laundry. On an average day, women spent almost an hour more on doing household activities than did men. Women spent more than twice as much time preparing food and drink and doing interior cleaning, and over three times as much time doing laundry as did men. Men spent more than twice as much time doing activities related to lawn, garden, and houseplants, including interior and exterior maintenance, repairs, and decoration as did women. In modern marriages, the division of labor within the context of marriage very much still unevenly distributed. However, both parties contribute significantly to the creation and maintenance of the home.

ROUGH DRAFT: Annotated Bibliography

Shelton, Beth Anne, and Daphne John. “The Division of Household Labor.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 22, 1996, pp. 299–322. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2083433. Beth Shelton and John Daphne extensively researched issues surrounding the division of household labor. Significant exposure is granted to the historical and theoretical work on housework and women's responsibility for it. The review also discusses the consequences of the division of labor in regards to wages, marital and family satisfaction, psychological well-being, and the perception of fairness within the household. Shelton and Daphne shed essential light on the transition from housework being mainly female-driven to a more flexible role for both husband and wife.

Swan, Annie S. (Annie Shepherd). Courtship and Marriage And the Gentle Art of  Home- Making. N.p., 1894. Web.

Author, Annie Swan, devolves into the complication dynamic of domestic affairs within the context of formal marriage. Within her work, she explores the roles of the wife, the husband and creating an ideal home. From creating a perfect home environment to the first year of marriage, Swan draws attention to essential behaviors required to establish a healthy marriage in a peaceful home environment. The author, Swan, explains early late 19th century ideas regarding the social construct of gender roles within the home, namely homemaking.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Charts by Topic: Household Activities.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 Dec. 2016, www.bls.gov/tus/charts/household.htm.

In 2015, the United State Bureau of Labor Statistics completed a survey of noninstitutionalized persons age 15 and over regarding time spent doing household activities. These tasks included: Maintenance, repair and decoration; lawn, garden, and houseplants; kitchen and food clean-up; other household activities; household management; laundry; interior cleaning; and food and drink preparation. The results of the survey showed the on an average day, men and women split their labor effectively. However, women spent almost an hour more doing household activities than did men. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics completed an illuminating survey of American families in the early 21st century and the effect the division of labor has in the home on a real-life scale.