Basic HTML Version
SOYOU'RE A
HOUSEWIFE
W
HAT
is the
new image
that
women need? Is the por·
trait of the satisfied woman
to be painted apart from the
1·o/e
of
"Occupation: Housewife"?
Is the entire family structure, the
traditional husband-wife relationship,
even society itself, in need of a revolu·
üonary change?
Are mothers unhappy because of the
role they are forced to play? Or is it
because they do not
propedy
know
how to fulfi ll the role?
Look.ing for a N ew Image
The most recent crusade is to
''liberate" women from real andjor
imagined repressions. The idea has
spread worldwide in the last few years.
One popular women's lib ad, for
example, tells how a new cigarette sup·
posedly "freed" women from a stifling
life-style. In the printed version of the
ad, two photographs are placed side by
side. The first shows a woman being
mishandled and screaming, "Someday
v.·e'll be able to vote, wear our own
kind of bathing suit, even have our
own cigarette." In the adjoining photo·
graphs stands the 1iberated woman.
This emancipated womao is provoca·
tive, independent and sexily attired
in the latest fashions. She has finally
gotten her cigarette. "Baby," the ad–
vertiser tells her, "you've
real/y
come a
long way."
But where was she going? The
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1972
"A trapped and boring
life" - "an unfulfilling
life with
no
identity."
These phrases often
describe the house–
wi fe's role. What's the
solution? Scrap the
housewife's role? Make
the ro le itself
more
meaningful?
by
Paul W . Kroll
·photographed
by
Mike Hendrickson
advertiser didn't answer that question.
Today's woman can vote, wear her
own style bathing suit, and puff on ber
own kind of cigarette. Yet, she is still
dissatisfied. Few women have really
been able to achieve the truly good
life. The question of how to find a life
of success, enrichment and purpose is
the crux of woman's dilemma!
Why the Unhappy Housewife ?
Many housewives, of course, do
find great satisfaction from being
wives, mothers and homemakers.
But the divorce statistics show all
is not well on the borne front. Piled
on top of this mountain of misery are
the millions of bornes where the
couples are staying together for reasons
other than the fact that they are happy
together. There are squabblings,
im–
proper relationships between husbands
and wives, and a feeling that marriage
just isn't what it ought to be.
Sorne authorities and laymen alike
have even asked themselves whether
marriage as an institution ought to
be phased out. There is an expression
that says, "Why ruin a happy relation–
ship by getting married ?"
If
a large percentage of marriages
are unhappy, it is quite plain that a
large percentage of aU housewives are
unhappy. They see life passing by
without so much as a wave to come
join the fun.
The tragic circumstances of house–
wives who feel cheated in marriage is
nota
recent phenomenon. Twelve years
ago
Redbook
magazine published an
article ent itled "Why Young Mothers
Feel Trapped." The editors were
shocked with a deluge of 24,000 re–
plies from mothers who felt confined
and unhappy in marriage.
But why the feeling of impríson·
ment?
If
homemaking appears to be a
trap,
what are the catues,
the in–
Auences, the teacbings, and the situa·
tions which make it so? What is the
way which guarantees women the ulti–
mate in self-fulfillment and purpose?
Betty Friedan, a women's liberation
leader in America, had one observa–
tion.
"!
have suggested that the real
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