Cowan made the point in his article, “An Introduction: Housework and Its Tools,” that perhaps industrialization, while making household chores easier for women in the home, may also be making this part of a woman or man’s life more time consuming. Pre-war and pre-industrialization and even into the 20th century, family time was considered extremely important. Women willingly stayed at home to take care of the children and make sure the home was presentable for when her husband got home from work and children got home from school. It was a simpler time with simpler tools and machinery. With that, there was no need to have washing machines that could do 3 loads at once or a dryer that would dry clothes in under an hour. Women, men, and children wore the same clothes every week, they came home for dinner at the same time, and many of the chores could be done as a family. Once dinner was over, the family would help wash and dry the dishes and then continue on with their evening after that specific chore was done. It was part of their daily routine. Likewise, at the end of the week when the clothes needed washing, the mother, and in some rare cases, the father, would wash the clothes and hang them out to dry so that they would be fresh for the week ahead. These types of chores were routine for not only the mother but for everyone. It was almost as if no one even minded doing them. Industrialization and the invention of new machinery and high-tech household items may have spoiled families, made more work for mothers (which is opposite of what they were probably intended for), and essentially made families less close instead of bringing them together. Now, because of washing machines and drying machines, families expect to have their clothing cleaned every day. Instead of re-wearing a shirt, a pair of pants, or (I am guilty of this one) re-using a bath towel, people have the idea in the back of their minds that they can just throw it in the washing machine and have it fresh for the next day. Unfortunately this makes twice the amount of laundry for a mother or father to do and may even triple or quadruple that mount if the family is larger. The mother is expected to constantly be loading the washing machine and loading the dishwasher, but then when is there time for the family to sit down together? The children complain about “loading” the dishwasher instead of doing the dishes as a family in a fun way that involves bonding. When I visited Africa over the summer, the women and children washed the clothes and dishes by hand outside together. They laughed and splashed and played and sometimes the fathers would even join in. Maybe we have lost touch with the past values of what chores were made for and how families benefited from them whether it was allowing more time to spend together, or teach kids a valuable lesson in hard work.
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Jennifer E Sandora says
I really liked how you brought back the ideals that existed in families before the washing machine was invented. It is completely true that although newer technologies today have created more efficient ways for chores to get done, we also expect these chores to be done more frequently. Also, it is interesting to think that back in the pre-industrialized era, washing clothes was a chore that many families did together. The modernization of our world has given us a lack of communication among each other and although we may be more efficient at doing things, we are also incredibly busy trying to do too many things at once. I agree that we have lost touch with our past values. We do not value time with our families like we used to.