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The Solidarity-with-Housewives

By: allanlovemonica

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The role of and treatment of the housewife, which is really the major bone of contention in social security reform, has, of course, a major place in feminist thought. Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique, which was influential in initiating the current wave of feminism in the United States, centered on the disadvantages to women of assuming the housewife's role. All feminists believe that women should not be forced into assuming it, and those alternative choices should be available. Many feminists, such as the present writer, go further and believe that the disadvantages of the role of housewife are so great that it would be better if younger women were to avoid entering the role even temporarily and if the "option" to assume the role were to disappear.

There is a second strand of feminist thought concerning housewives, which derives from the solidarity which feminists feel with all women, housewives included. This solidarity expresses itself in a concern to alleviate injuries (physical and psychological as well as financial) inflicted on housewives by their husbands and by the institutions of society. This second strand is not logically contradictory to the first; it is possible to love the sinner (the housewife herself) while hating the sin (playing the role). Nevertheless, the two strands do tend to cut different ways in terms of policy. Moreover, individual feminist thinkers differ in the emphasis they place on each.

These two strands of feminist thought inspire two kinds of complaints against the social security system — that some housewives are treated too well and that some housewives are treated not well enough. The housewives who are treated too well are those married to retired men, who are enabled by the system to live at a higher standard than retired working wives whose family had comparable total covered earnings. The housewives who are treated not well enough are those whose dignity is scanted by treatment as a dependent, or those whose marriages end, and whose husbands retain all rights to social security (and private pensions) earned during the marriage.

The solidarity-with-housewives strand of feminist thought results in attitudes which emphasize the housewife's productiveness and give dignity to the position of housewife. It results in policy suggestions which would have the effect of making the woman who becomes and remains a housewife safer, more comfortable, less subject to financial shipwreck, more able to hold up her head as a productive member of society. The most characteristic product of this line of thought is the suggestion that housewives be awarded social security credits for the homemaking work they do. Some credit schemes would require the household to pay taxes in return for the credit; others would not. One merit of homemaker credits in the eyes of the solidarity-with-housewives advocates is that it makes housework and "paid work" more alike, thereby raising the status of housework psychologically and financially. A second market, of course, is that in the case of divorce the homemaker would keep her credits, and thus would be more financially independent than is the case now.

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