As I was driving to work the other day, I was pondering about how life was hundreds of years ago when the wife typically stayed home versus the way things are now. Before I left for work I loaded the dishwasher and started a load of laundry. These two things I was not doing by hand and would be completed when I got home from work.
Hundreds of years ago, not only would I have washed the dishes by hand but I would have also washed our clothes by hands on a wash board. I used a wash board once, as part of a school project to help us understand the hard work our ancestors did. Using a wash board is not easy and it was a lot of work.
It was easy for me to see why; it was expected for a wife to stay home a long time ago. The time it takes to do chores back then took longer than they do now. They didn’t have the advantage of technology to help them get their chores done like we do now. It was also easy for me to see why; it is more socially acceptable now for a woman to work outside the home. Simply put, the demands to keep a home running are not as high as they once were.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with being a housewife or a house slave. All I am saying is I can certainly see that the housewives of the past most certainly worked harder than the housewives of today. I also think people who work outside the home also do not work as hard as our ancestors. Our workdays are shorter and we also have modern technology to help us get the job done faster and easier with less people.
I think that with the help of technology it is easier for people to balance working and maintaining a home. It does take some degree of planning but I firmly believe it is easier to create that balance in this day and age then it would have been hundreds of years ago.
-emma
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