Before the breadwinner family, households were economic enterprises where men and women worked together. How industrialization created modern gender roles.
Impressive work! I always thought it was funny how so many people believe these artificial social constructs meant anything to pre-industrial age people who were merely trying to keep everyone in the household alive. If women couldn't adjust to "male" roles, then every household without a man would collapse (which is still true today), and many clearly survive just fine.
Thanks Amy! And you’re spot on. As I did this research I continually thought about how short the collective memory span is. So many historical claims that women “traditionally” had only domestic roles go completely unchecked, despite their fundamental inaccuracy (and putting aside the other problems with such claims).
Very interesting! I knew about women craft-enterprise owners in the Middle Ages and the traditional nexus as the home for family economic activities, but I didn't realize that the late-Victorian ideal of women in the home was, in part, a result of low wages for women in factories before that. Thank you for elucidating this timeline!
Thanks Robin! Same, I didn’t appreciate the sequence of things until I did this research. As humans, we often try to rationalize things we do after the fact. What’s interesting is that happens on a societal level, too.
Impressive work! I always thought it was funny how so many people believe these artificial social constructs meant anything to pre-industrial age people who were merely trying to keep everyone in the household alive. If women couldn't adjust to "male" roles, then every household without a man would collapse (which is still true today), and many clearly survive just fine.
Thanks Amy! And you’re spot on. As I did this research I continually thought about how short the collective memory span is. So many historical claims that women “traditionally” had only domestic roles go completely unchecked, despite their fundamental inaccuracy (and putting aside the other problems with such claims).
That's so true.
Yes! This feels spot on! So much “trad wife” nostalgia is dependent on forgetting exactly this history.
Exactly. Thanks for commenting and sharing!
Very interesting! I knew about women craft-enterprise owners in the Middle Ages and the traditional nexus as the home for family economic activities, but I didn't realize that the late-Victorian ideal of women in the home was, in part, a result of low wages for women in factories before that. Thank you for elucidating this timeline!
Thanks Robin! Same, I didn’t appreciate the sequence of things until I did this research. As humans, we often try to rationalize things we do after the fact. What’s interesting is that happens on a societal level, too.