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cause of ... women's frustration was
the emptiness of the housewife's role."
In many ways, her assessment is
grounded in fact. The important work
of society is taking place outside the
home. Today, home is little different
from the lobby of an office. Family
members stop in briefly, only to move
on to other areas: the school, the fac–
tory, the office, the movies, the restau–
rant, the ballgame.
There was a time when large num–
bers of husbands worked at borne on
the farm or at least in the adjoining
village. Often, people had small family
businesses where all the members could
participate. Don't confuse these state–
ments as a clarion call for the "ma
and pa" shop as opposcd to the local
supermarket. It is merely a fact of
the change in our society. In the past,
work was often the occasion of social
gatherings. When autumn arrivcd, the
entire community moved from farm
to farm to bring
in
the harvest.
The home was the mainstream of
society in a basically agracian society.
In the Bíblica! sense, man and wife
32
were truly one Jlesh. It was often dif–
ficult to say this pertained to job and
that to borne.
If
Mother churned the
butter and Dad plaoted the garden,
both provided the necessities of life.
When the self-contained, traditional
home was fractured, women were pro–
foundly shaken.
Today: the Fractured Home
Today's husband is probably off on
a business trip. Or he may be forced
to commute long distances to work.
He sees little of bis family. The hus–
band seldom discusses bis work with
his wife, and he certainly is not in–
terested in her routine day at home.
Communications become strained;
there is little sharing of ideas, hopes
and dreams.
One hundred years ago, women
usually had children to teach, food to
prepare, a garden to tend, dothing to
make, and a husband to take cace of.
Every member of the family was a
part of the team; husband, wife and
children were al! critically important
to the survival of the family unit.
Responsibilities of searching om bar–
gaim, cmd spending the family bttdget
111isely.
Increasiogly, the center of society
has moved away from the home. The
wife has willingly beco stripped of
many of her responsibilities. The
average wife can toss two-minute oats
on the breakfast table (who eats break–
fast at home ?) , open a can of soup
for lunch (who eats lunch at home?),
and pop a TV dinner into her push–
button range (as each family member
eats alone before the television set).
There is no fuss, no mess- but no
real achievement either. Food is rarely
produced at home. Evcn farmcrs buy
their food at the friendly supermarkets.
In the not-too-distant past, an im–
portant part of the children's educa–
tion was adrninistered at home. The
three R's might have bcen taught at
the country schoolhouse, but discipline
and moral responsibility wcre usually
under the tutelage of mother. lt was
said that the hand that rocked the
cradle ruled the world. Today, mothers
have very little positive inlluence on
their children. Their offspring are
being educated by tclevision, the
movies and the pecr group.
Except for the omnipresent teJe–
vision set, the home has even lost its
recreational function. Television is
about the only home recreation which
will fit into tiny and often drab apart–
ments that millions of people are
forced to Jive in.
Let us not, howcvcr, entertain any
romantic notions of the past glories of
women. In heavy-handed historical
eras, such as the Victorian Agc, women
were often regarded as mere chattel,
to picase the whims of men. Or they
were dressed up as semi-hun1an manne–
quins, window dressing for the great
glory of the male species. Or they
were "sex objects" from the point of
view that they were merely to bear
children whilc husbands enjoyed thc
bliss of sexual intercourse. What
society must ultimately admit is that
in
110
hmnan-devised society have
women ever had a dear conceprion of
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1972