The Housewife

BBC Learning EnglishWeekenderThe HousewifeYvonne: Hello, I'm Yvonne Archer 1 and this is Weekender frombbclearningenglish.com!
　　Today, women’s lives around the world are often verydifferent from the lives of their grandmothers or eventheir mothers. And many women in Britain who don’t go outto work have been called ‘housewives’ over the years. Butare British ‘housewives’ happy with that term and whenwas it first used?
　　Susie Dent 2 is an etymologist 3 – so she studies the originsof words and how they develop. Here, she’s speaking on BBCRadio 4’s “Woman’s Hour” – so she’s speaking quitequickly. But try to find out when the term ‘housewife’
　　was first recorded in the Oxford 4 English Dictionary andwhether its definition was good or bad.
　　INSERT – Susie Dent, EtymologistWell, it’s first recorded by the Oxford English Dictionaryin the 13th Century when it went very simply and veryneutrally “a woman who manages the affairs of herhousehold”.
　　Yvonne: Did you manage to catch that? Yes, the term‘housewife’ was first recorded in The Oxford EnglishDictionary in the 13th Century – and Susie says thedefinition was very simple and it read very ‘neutrally’ -so housewives weren’t described as being either good orbad people. Here’s a chance to hear that definition again– but when was the 13th Century?
　　INSERT – Susie Dent, EtymologistWell, it’s first recorded by the Oxford English Dictionaryin the 13th Century when it went very simply and veryneutrally “a woman who manages the affairs of herhousehold”.
　　Yvonne: A ‘century’ is a hundred years and the 13thCentury was in the 1200s – so the term ‘housewife’ hasbeen around for a very long time! A housewife wasneutrally described as ‘a woman who manages the affairs ofher household’ – basically, she looked after everythingto do with her home and everyone in it. But as we’ll hear,300 years later – that’s three ‘centuries’ later’ –things changed and the term ‘housewife’ no longer had aneutral definition. But did things change for the better orfor the worse? Susie’s use of the word ‘dubious 5’ mighthelp you out...
　　INSERT – Susie Dent, EtymologistBut then it started to follow a pattern that so many termsfor women do and then it started off neutral and then itgradually turned into something rather dubious. And threecenturies later, it really began to mean a worthless womanor even a promiscuous 6 one.
　　Yvonne: Susie says that the term ‘housewife’ went from ‘neutral’ to ‘dubious’ – that’s doubtful and not verypositive - so things changed for the worse. And later on,women who were housewives were thought to be ‘worthless’
　　- of very little use and even ‘promiscuous’… Housewiveswere described as women with very low, loose morals whoshowed inappropriate sexual behaviour. And otherterms for women such as ‘wife’ also suffered as Susiepoints out…INSERT – Susie Dent, EtymologistThree centuries later, it really began to mean a worthlesswoman or even a promiscuous one - which was slightlyalarming but as I say, not unusual for terms such as ‘wife’ – (is) another one that did the same thing.
　　Yvonne: We’ve heard how historically, like other terms forwomen,‘housewife’ went from being a very neutral term toone that would certainly upset most women – and probablytheir husbands. But happily, it all changed for the betterand‘housewives’ became as proud of their title as otherpeople were of their university degrees!
　　INSERT – Susie Dent, EtymologistOf course, in the 20th century, it was a source of pride.
　　And you know, people were the homemakers and people talkedabout getting their ‘Mrs’ degree instead of a universitydegree.
　　Yvonne: BBC Radio 4’s “Woman’s Hour” is now in its 60thyear and as part of it’s celebrations, the programmeconducted a poll – a survey - to find out how women todayfeel about the term ‘housewife’. This first woman findsthe term offensive, but why?
　　INSERTI think ‘housewife’ is absolutely offensive to women. Itconjures up images of you being a frumpy old lady who justsits at home making jam and (has) got nothing better to do.
　　Yvonne: That woman believes the term ‘housewife’ makespeople think of ‘frumpy’ women – unattractive, badlydressed women – who have nothing else to do except makejam. Jam's a combination of fruit and sugar that’s eatenon bread, for example so ‘housewife’ conjures 7 up a verynegative image. But this housewife has a very differentview. Listen out for the job that she comparesher own to…INSERTIt’s like running a team, isn’t it – exactly like beinga team leader. You have to divide your time, you have todivide your money... (It’s multi-tasking?) – Yes, it’sexactly the same isn’t it? It’s running a business butyou’re just running your children and your husband.
　　Yvonne: She sees herself as a team leader in a business whohas to multi-task – she has to be able to do more than onething at the same time. In her job, she has to be able todivide her time and her money - but the business she’srunning is her children and her husband!
　　Is the term ‘housewife’ used in your own area or country?
　　Do you think theterm is a good one or a bad one? And what type of woman doyou think of –what images are conjured 8 up – when you think of a‘housewife’?
　　Why not visit us at bbclearningenglish.com for a recap ofsome of today’s language to help you talk about that inEnglish after today’s Weekender!