YOUNG WOMEN AND HOUSEWORK

Abstract

Despite much research which demonstrates the remarkable stability of the inequitable division of domestic labour within heterosexual couples, this key feminist issue is frequently neglected in the literature about contemporary young womanhood. This article begins with a review of literature about the politics of housework. Following this, young women's expectations and experiences of housework are explored through analysis of qualitative interview data in order to explore how they make sense of and respond to the resilience of the traditional sexual division of labour. Men's unequal contribution to housework is conceptualised in this article as an ‘awkward relic of modernity’ because it represents evidence of structures of male dominance at odds with widespread beliefs about progress towards sexual equality. The post-feminist environment of Western neo-liberal democracies, in which assumptions of individualised female empowerment co-exist with the continuation of manifestations of gendered inequality, provides the context against which these issues are theoretically considered.

Notes

1. While such material largely targets a female audience, the contemporary desire for domesticity has some purchase on both sexes (Campbell 2001). These are most often associated with pursuits such as cooking, gardening and interior design which can be located at the more aesthetic and creative end of the housework spectrum. There are also widely syndicated, instructional shows devoted to the appropriate organisation and cleaning of houses (e.g. How Clean is Your House? UK, Channel 4; Clean House US, The Style Network).