The Sociology of Housework facts for kids
Cover of 1975 edition
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| Author | Ann Oakley |
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| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Women and housework |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
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Publication date
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1974 |
The Sociology of Housework is a non-fiction book from 1974 by Ann Oakley. It shares her studies from the 1960s about women and the work they do at home, often called housework. Oakley talked to 40 women in London who were housewives. She asked them how they felt about doing housework.
Understanding Housework as Work
Before Ann Oakley's book, many people who studied society (called sociologists) didn't really see housework as real work. There weren't many serious studies about what women did inside their homes.
Why Ann Oakley's Book Was Important
Oakley's book was one of the first studies in sociology to show that housework is actual work. It looked at how women did their housework and what their experiences were like.
Her research was published in two books: Housewife and The Sociology of Housework. The book The Sociology of Housework focused on how women felt about their work and how society viewed women's roles.
What Did the Study Find?
Ann Oakley interviewed 40 housewives living in London. She found that these women liked having control over their housework. This means they liked deciding when and how to do things. However, they didn't like most of the actual tasks involved in housework.
- Twenty-eight of the women were not happy with doing housework.
- The interviews showed that it wasn't just wealthier women who were unhappy with housework. Women from all backgrounds could feel this way.
Oakley also noticed something interesting. Women from working-class families often said they were happy being a housewife. But Oakley thought this might be because they felt they should say what society expected. She found that women from both working-class and middle-class families often felt their work was boring, lonely, and never-ending.
Most of the women got very little help from their husbands with housework or taking care of children. Many women also felt it was their duty to do all the work at home. This was because they saw it as part of their role as a woman.
