Chapter One On studying housework
Abstract
The sociology of housework was one of the first published studies on that subject. It belonged to a long-established tradition of female commentary on the social value and material undervaluation of women’s domestic labour. The study described in the book was carried out as a doctoral thesis, and the pursuit of both the thesis and the book took me on a lonely, depressing and enlightening journey: lonely, because in Britain the ‘looking glass’ insights of the radical revolt against postwar complacency with the status quo had not yet infiltrated the universities; depressing, because the force of tradition should never be underestimated; and enlightening, because greater knowledge of current ideologies and practices, and their enclosing structures, offers a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.
The reception given in academic and media circles to The sociology of housework was mixed. According to the New Statesman, the book represented “a devastating reappraisal” of the social-scientific myth that marriage is more egalitarian than it used to be. It was written in “the brusque, uncompromising, workmanlike [sic] prose of an author who, although capable of savage irony at times, strikes one as being a trifle humourless” (Naughton, 1975). The review’s author did concede that housework and the position of women were hardly funny subjects. The Daily Telegraph’s review, somewhat missing the point, complained that my book contained no useful tips on how to make husbands share housework (Edmunds, 1975).
Abroad, The Sydney Morning Herald printed a photograph of me standing nervously in the kitchen, and described the book as “hard but rewarding reading” (Allan, 1975).
Abstract
The sociology of housework was one of the first published studies on that subject. It belonged to a long-established tradition of female commentary on the social value and material undervaluation of women’s domestic labour. The study described in the book was carried out as a doctoral thesis, and the pursuit of both the thesis and the book took me on a lonely, depressing and enlightening journey: lonely, because in Britain the ‘looking glass’ insights of the radical revolt against postwar complacency with the status quo had not yet infiltrated the universities; depressing, because the force of tradition should never be underestimated; and enlightening, because greater knowledge of current ideologies and practices, and their enclosing structures, offers a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.
The reception given in academic and media circles to The sociology of housework was mixed. According to the New Statesman, the book represented “a devastating reappraisal” of the social-scientific myth that marriage is more egalitarian than it used to be. It was written in “the brusque, uncompromising, workmanlike [sic] prose of an author who, although capable of savage irony at times, strikes one as being a trifle humourless” (Naughton, 1975). The review’s author did concede that housework and the position of women were hardly funny subjects. The Daily Telegraph’s review, somewhat missing the point, complained that my book contained no useful tips on how to make husbands share housework (Edmunds, 1975).
Abroad, The Sydney Morning Herald printed a photograph of me standing nervously in the kitchen, and described the book as “hard but rewarding reading” (Allan, 1975).
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Sources of extracts iv
- Foreword by Germaine Greer vi
- Preface ix
-
Sex and gender
- Introduction 2
- The difference between sex and gender 7
- Genes and gender 13
- A kind of person 21
- Childhood lessons 31
- Science, gender and women’s liberation 41
-
Housework and family life
- Introduction 54
- On studying housework 59
- Images of housework 63
- Work conditions 75
- Standards and routines 87
- Marriage and the division of labour 93
- Helping with baby 103
- Housework in history and culture 109
-
Childbirth, motherhood and medicine
- Introduction 118
- The agony and the ecstasy 123
- Lessons mothers learn 139
- Medical maternity cases 151
- Mistakes and mystiques of motherhood 179
-
Doing social science
- Introduction 184
- The invisible woman: sexism in sociology 189
- Reflections thirty years on 207
- On being interviewed 211
- Interviewing women: a contradiction in terms? 217
- Who’s afraid of the randomized controlled trial? Some dilemmas of the scientific method and ‘good’ research practice 233
- Paradigm wars: some thoughts on a personal and public trajectory 245
- General bibliography 251
- Bibliography of work by Ann Oakley 281
- Ann Oakley: further reading 285
- Index 295
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Sources of extracts iv
- Foreword by Germaine Greer vi
- Preface ix
-
Sex and gender
- Introduction 2
- The difference between sex and gender 7
- Genes and gender 13
- A kind of person 21
- Childhood lessons 31
- Science, gender and women’s liberation 41
-
Housework and family life
- Introduction 54
- On studying housework 59
- Images of housework 63
- Work conditions 75
- Standards and routines 87
- Marriage and the division of labour 93
- Helping with baby 103
- Housework in history and culture 109
-
Childbirth, motherhood and medicine
- Introduction 118
- The agony and the ecstasy 123
- Lessons mothers learn 139
- Medical maternity cases 151
- Mistakes and mystiques of motherhood 179
-
Doing social science
- Introduction 184
- The invisible woman: sexism in sociology 189
- Reflections thirty years on 207
- On being interviewed 211
- Interviewing women: a contradiction in terms? 217
- Who’s afraid of the randomized controlled trial? Some dilemmas of the scientific method and ‘good’ research practice 233
- Paradigm wars: some thoughts on a personal and public trajectory 245
- General bibliography 251
- Bibliography of work by Ann Oakley 281
- Ann Oakley: further reading 285
- Index 295
