It is why I find MN posters who want to lay claim to the title 'housewife' really depressing.
And I find posters who regard paid work outside the home as the only way to gain "equality" and who do not value the vital work done by carers (whether of small children or the sick or old) depressing. Society will never change for the better while we maintain this attitute.
Let us call ourselves that if we want to; it's self-worth that really counts and it's so important that those of us who choose to stay home (or can afford to; unfortunately it's often not a choice) stop thinking of ourselves as mere skivvies.
Self worth comes from inside, not from the work you do. A rubbish collector is just as important (in many caases, more) as a CEO. If rcs were to go on strike we'd soon realise this.
If I didn’t have to work I doubt I would spend my time doing housework, I’d probably have hobbies and take craft/fitness classes and therefore I’d call myself a student.
It's what I did. I wrote books. Later, they were published and I have made, over the years, hundreds of thousands of pounds/euros and am still, though a retiree, making 5 figures a year from writing.
I suppose, saying that, I immediately earned a heap more respect than when I wrote that I was a housewife.
Why?
It's because we are subservient to money. It's the only thing that counts for some people. Thus unpaid work is by default less important.
In my younger days caring for my kids and making them a cosy and warm home was by far the more important task and it's only when they left home that writing predominated. But still, I enjoyed being in my own four walls and not subservient to an employer.
Even when I called myself a housewife, I certainly did not spend my entire day doing housework. But I know women who do (mostly super efficient Germans!) , and they have very nice well cared for homes and good for them. My home is a little untidy as I am definitely not a domestic goddess.
I did go back to work outside the home when I was in my 60s. I hated it, and couldn't wait to retire. On official forms, when asked for occupation, I enter retiree, not writer -- even though the latter would be just as valid.
We are all different. Let's not put people into boxes.
And as I said earlier, let's not replace one stereotype with another: instead of the housebound mother at home, the busy career woman juggling home and work. I think we all work out individually what's right for our particular situation.