What women want

Thinking about what Delhi women have been demanding for themselves these past weeks - safety and equality certainly, but they ask as well for respect and dignity in their homes.

We are traditionally seen as less than men and this view seems to extend to our homes, particularly for the homemaker. Perhaps the conflict did not exist in the past (or lay buried beneath the surface?) when roles were defined and expectations set early. It was understood that men would head the family and go out to earn a living. It was understood that women would care for their hearths and homes and children. It was perhaps even understood that the latter would be subservient to the former! The lines are now blurred, the other half is waking up and new dynamics are afoot. Women’s demand for an equal place is understandably uncomfortable for men, who have so far maintained an unquestioned superiority.

 

As a first step, men need to respect the women in their homes. Some men see their work as more important, merely because it is conducted at a desk in the office and certainly because their employers pay for it in currency that can be banked. Most men are able to go out each day and do this ‘important’ work, only because a homemaker-spouse takes care of cooking and cleaning and caring for the children! Is house work undervalued because it is not paid for? It would certainly come at a price, were it outsourced to a cook, a cleaner and a nanny! This is not to ignore the contribution women make to the economy (and in other ways) by leaving tasks at home to take on paid work outside it. While paid work can be easily quantified, it is time to recognize the value that women (employed outside home or not) deliver through unpaid household work!

This Forbes article attempts to place a price tag on housework and is recommended reading: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brycecovert/2012/05/30/putting-a-price-tag-on-unpaid-housework/

I applaud the writer and others she refers to, E.g. Nancy Folbre, “… a family earning $50,000 with one full-time wage earner and one full-time homemaker surely enjoys a higher living standard than a family with two full-time wage earners each earning $25,000, because it can rely on home-produced services rather than buying market substitutes.”