...to hate the phrase 'Stay at Home Mum'

[InMyLittleHead]

OK - I am not in any way saying that I hate SAHMs, or think it isn't a valid thing to do. I just hate the phrase.

It's the 'stay at home' bit. It implies that women who choose to look after their children instead of working are stuck solely in the domestic sphere and isolated from the 'real world', which isn't true. I think it's particularly the word 'stay' which implies that women's 'normal' place is in the home, so mums who stay at home are simply, passively, fulfilling their natural role. But I think it is an active decision that women make.

Am I the only person who has a slight niggle with the term?

Yep I hate it as much as I do Full time mum.....

Its not my favourite expression but far better than 'housewife'. I have yet to meet a woman who is married to a goddamn house!

I can't immediately think of any alternatives which I do like. Do you have any suggestions, InMyLittleHead?

Stay at home is more correct than full time mum surely

but both shit YANBU

i see your point as it kind of implies we would never go out of the house, but i cant think of many other alternatives to use, and does not really bother me too much

It's a pretty clumsy phrase, but does not really bother me.
Can't we invent a better one ?

There are worse things to worry about...

I think it's OK tbh. I was a SAHM for many years, now WOHM. I didn't/don't object to either name/descriptor.

I admit that I may be a bit of a semantic pedant, but it still niggles.

Not sure about other labels - full time mum is a bit insulting to WOHMs, who are also mums all the time. Housewife is obviously ridiculous. Hmm...

Would unemployed, in terms of not earning an income, be more insulting than stay-at-home?

Domestic Engineer

B
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A
K

Lol at domestic engineer.

Unemployed is a bit insulting, but the opposite is employed - and who, exactly, are they employed by?

Getting technical now