Housewives in literature

Manuals on how to be a good wife had been widely available in Ireland at the start of the twentieth century, but with the emergence of new technologies, the advice extended to newly married women and housewives began to change in the 1960s. The concept of being an ‘ideal wife’ became closely bound up with being a ‘modern wife’. This is best identified in the pages of women’s glossy magazines, which came to replace the traditional manual as a source for guidance. The message, driven by the advertisers, was clear: a ‘good wife’ was not just beautifully presented, but also used all the latest ‘modern’ devices. Her home – especially the kitchen – was an extension of her appearance and reputation. ‘Modern life’ and ‘modern wife’ became blended into the one ideal.

Si, d'après Maurice Blanchot, le quotidien résiste à la représentation, plusieurs démarches littéraires, artistiques ou scientifiques tentent, au XXe siècle, de rendre sensible l'ordinaire de la vie quotidienne. Certaines œuvres de Chantal Akerman, réalisatrice belge, et de Annie Ernaux, auteure française, participent de cette démarche.
Dans cette communication, nous explorerons plus précisément le quotidien au prisme de la figure de la femme au foyer, qui apparaît notamment dans Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) de Chantal Akerman et dans La femme gelée (1981) de Annie Ernaux. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuyons sur les notions de figure et de figural, afin d'étudier la façon dont les œuvres (dé)construisent cette figure topique, et ce non sans effet sur la figuration du quotidien. En effet, nous faisons l'hypothèse que le surgissement ponctuel du figural dans ces œuvres constitue l'une des manière de rendre sensible, tout en la dépassant, la résistance du quotidien à la représentation.

This paper examines the gendered aspects of consumer waste, dirt, and domestic mess in three early novels by Alison Lurie – Love and Friendship (1962), The Nowhere City (1965), and The War between the Tates (1974), set in 1969 – which I argue provide an incisive account of the transformation of gender relations over the course of the 1950s and 1960s. By focussing on the signifying potential of material objects in these texts, I seek to demonstrate Lurie's relevance to the “thingly turn” in literary criticism, to reignite interest in an author whose work has received surprisingly little scholarly attention, and to instigate a wider discussion of waste in her work as a whole, where it in fact proliferates. In broader terms, I hope to complicate existing scholarship on waste in literature (including my own in this area to date), which remains almost exclusively focussed on male authors.

Purpose: This study has been performed to evaluate the mental status of the blue-collar women and housewives in Honaz district, Denizli.

Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 110 women working in a textile factory and 110 housewives aged 20-59 in Honaz district were compared in terms of mental health. Data of the study were collected through face to face interview method in December 2012. The first part of the questionnaire contains socio-demographic and cultural data, information about family and household, work life and lifestyle, the second part was 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) which was developed by Goldberg. GHQ scoring 2 and above is considered mental health distress. Chi-square and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the contributing factors of mental health.

Results: A total of 220 women including 110 female worker and 110 housewive participated in the study, 68.2% of female worker and 92.7% of housewives were 30 years and above. According to GHQ scoring, mental health distress prevalence of women workers and housewives was 43.6% and 50.0%, respectively and there was no significant difference. Low educational level, older age, being single and presence of people with disabilities at home were found to be independent risk factors.

Conclusion: This study revealed that there is no significant difference in terms of mental health distress among blue-collar women and housewives. Mental disorders are common health problems in both groups.

Key words: Mental status of women workers and housewives.

The article probes the social background to the controversial ‘Kitchen Debate’ between the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the US vice-president Richard Nixon, which occured at the American trade exhibition in Moscow during summer 1959.  Political histories narrowly focus on diplomatic point-scoring between the two leaders, leaving largely untouched the purpose of the landmark exhibition, and its expression of America's ‘suburban’ values.  This discussion traces a broad arc exploring:

- The exchange between Khrushchev and Nixon, especially their discussion of housing
- What was shown in the Moscow exhibition (detailing the display kitchen that prompted Khrushchev’s indignation), and the US State Department’s broad aims.
- The expansion of suburbia in post-war America (census figures quoted), and changes in property development including the emergence of commuter suburbs.
- The influential Levittown model for mass home construction & instant suburbs, and the impact of its highly publicised estates on Long Island, Connecticutt and New Jersey.
- Nature and extent of suburban conformism, including pointed criticisms made by urban planning commentators, the sociologist William Whyte, and the Feminist Betty Friedan.
- Mounting distress of women who did not feel fulfilled as homemakers, and their main grievances.
- Segregation, and enforced racial exclusion at the Levittowns.
- Portrayal of suburban values in the key literary works, ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’ (1955), ‘Revolutionary Road’ (1961), ‘The Stepford Wives’ (1972)
- Efforts to raise the quality of home and suburb design in California, prompted by the magazine ‘Arts and Architecture’
- The pioneering Case Study House project.
- Role of the Los Angeles firm Eames Office in post-war domestic design.
- Contribution of Eames Office to the Moscow exhibition.
9pp.