From Housewife to Home-Maker
It may seem quite extra-ordinary to witness the progress of an unemployed married woman from being a “housewife” in the 1990’s to a “homemaker” in 2014. I still remember when I was studying in the kindergarten school, my mother taught me the answer to the question, “What does your mother do?” She taught me to say, “My mother is a housewife.”.
But if one asks the same question to a child today, they get the answer as “My mother is a homemaker.” Strange it may sound, but it is indeed true. In the good olden days, women were not given quite a lot of “freedom”. They were not even thought of as worthy of being educated. They were married off at the earliest possible opportunity available to their parents. If we think about the era of British rule in India, we have examples of many ruthless practices like child marriages and Sati pratha. These were created to let the people follow the rules made by a patriarchal society. As long as such rituals existed in the society, the scope of development of women was out of question. But soon, “independence” came in India and women too got liberated from the chains of society. The newly formed government promoted literacy and employment for both men and women. Then the rest is history. But till the 1990’s, most women preferred to be a housewife rather than a working woman. After they got married, there was just one task which they were supposed to do, look after their home and family. Hence came the name “housewife”. The woman is supposed to stay within the four walls of the house and she is known as a “wife”. Those days didn’t even demand a lot from women anyway. The society too, considered women as incapable of giving any significant contribution. Housewives didn’t have much to do at home either. They had to do the household chores and look after their in-laws and children. Very soon, the century changed. Mankind entered into the 21st century. As and when the literacy rates climbed up their way slowly, the mind-set of people changed too. Education of women started to gain importance among all the other contemporary issues of the society. More and more parents wanted their daughters to get quality education, just like their sons. And as it is very obvious, when women get education, they expect to get a job after that. Thus marriage became a second priority for many of the educated women. In the present scenario, there are both types of women in our society. The ones who work professionally even after their marriage, are said to be career oriented women. They are also very well capable of managing their household along with their office. Everything goes hand in hand for them. On the other hand, there are women, who get married and drop their career, only to stay back at home and to look after their family. But in today’s world, they are not called as ‘housewives’. Instead they are called as ‘homemakers’. Because it is indeed true that- “It is a woman who makes a home from a house.”
Women are not only considered as capable of raising up children and taking care of family, but the society has also started to accept the fact that women can do wonders both at home and office. If they wish, they can get the “best of both worlds”. And even if they choose to stay back at home, its only for the sake of their loved ones. So cheers to all the “lovely and lively HOMEMAKERS” out there. The society is proud to have you!!!
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About the Author: This article is contributed by Neha Thakur, our Intern.
