National Homemaker Day – November 3, 2022, history, significance
On November 3, National Homemaker Day, we celebrate the people who keep our households running! This day is devoted to appreciating all labor done in homes including cooking, buying groceries, and carrying out much-needed repairs. Whoever the homemaker is in your modern family, this is the chance to thank and celebrate the ones working hard behind the scenes!
HISTORY OF NATIONAL HOMEMAKER DAY
In the United States, the person in charge of taking care of the home while their partner works is called a homemaker. In our current society, this terms applies to a house-spouse of any gender who works hard to keep their home in order.
A homemaker can also be an adult’s parent or family member helping take care of the home and any present children. However, in the past, a homemaker would normally be the wife or matriarch of a family unit. In the 19th century, women were required to stay back and maintain the home as a peaceful environment for their husbands and children.
Though the 20th century began with many of the same homemaking ideals as the 19th, by the 1990s more marriages consisted of both men and women participating in housework. Unfortunately, according to a study performed by Adam Hochschild in 1989, women who made more than 50% of income were still doing the majority of the housework.
Being a homemaker in the 21st century is not a lifetime commitment like it was in the 1800s. Someone who might stay at home now may want to return to the workforce later, while their partner will either continue working as well or decide to switch places and takeover the housework duties.
Currently, more men are contributing to housework and are even the main homemakers, opting to stay at home while their wives or husbands are the primary breadwinners. Though the number of female house-spouses still outweigh their male counterparts, the gap between the two is steadily closing as people abandon traditional gender norms for approaches that fit their individual lifestyles.
NATIONAL HOMEMAKER DAY TIMELINE
May 2, 1885
A Magazine Launches
The first issue of Good Housekeeping launches, hoping “to produce and perpetuate perfection as may be obtained in the household.”
December 28, 1886
The First Dishwasher
Josephine Cochran invents the first useful dishwasher in Shelbyville, Illinois.
February 19, 1963
Housework Politicized
‘The Feminine Mystique’ was published, sparking a second wave of feminism in the United States.
July 19, 2007
Mad Men
The TV show about 1950s advertising highlights the woes of homemaker Betty Draper.
NATIONAL HOMEMAKER DAY ACTIVITIES
Do the work
There’s no better way to show appreciation for the homemaker in your life than by taking on some of the labor they do on a daily basis. Take a day off and do the dishes, wash the windows, make the beds, cook the dinner, groom the pets, and sweep the yard.
Pay someone else to do the work
If you don’t have the time to do all the chores but still want to recognize the homemaker in your life, then this is the day to pay a cleaner to come in and do it, or hire a chef for the evening. You can advertise on a chores website for somebody who’s willing to do this kind of thing, but be sure to thank them and pay them well!
Treat your homemaker to a day of rest
Spa days, relaxation times, flotation tanks, mani-pedis, you know the drill. Thank your homemaker by treating them to a nice experience, maybe while you’re at home doing the jobs they tend to do.
WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL HOMEMAKER DAY
Everybody’s contribution is valuable
Whether you’re out earning a paycheck or at home raising children, everyone’s work has a value and yet, there aren’t many MVP awards given out to the people who do the work in the home. This is a day that’s about changing that.
American homes are changing and becoming more diverse
More and more American homes are bucking the old-fashioned norms, particularly since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across America in 2015. The idea that it was “less manly” or somehow weak to show too much interest in raising children has gone out the window.
We’re all more than what we do to earn money
We might all be proud of that fat bonus check or an inflated bank balance, but you can’t take that money with you, and things like love and care don’t always have a price tag attached.
