In Cowan’s article “An Introduction: Housework and Its Tools”, he reviews how industrialization has been changing people, especially households’ lives. The new inventions and technology do help women in doing household chores, but it also take up more time. As I read the article, I don’t really agree with this point he argues. I think no matter technology is progressing or not, we can choose the way we want to live. For instance, people do dishes by their hands in the past. Now almost all families would have their own dish washing machines. Since the machine can do many dishes as one time. People will wait until the washing machine is full. It is true that it might take more time to clean all the dishes compares to the past. But it saves our personal time and more importantly we can leave all the works to the machine. If a person really wants to keep the dishes clean invariably. He or she can do the dishes, as it gets dirty. In short, we can choose the lifestyle we want and it is nothing to do with innovation of our lives.
Cowan also mentions in the article that “we are given the impression that industrialization occurred outside the four walls of home”. She says that we have had some difficulty in acknowledging that industrialization has occurred just as rapidly within our homes as outside them. It is true. As technology keeps developing, it not just changes how the society operates. It transforms the way that households live as well. In the old days people grow crops in their backyards. They know the process of how to make the crops to food. Now people don’t need to know details of growing crops or making them eatable. However, we still need to be aware of how various household appliances work.
The article gives a well explanation on it: “If we could find and follow a recipe for making the bread, it is highly unlikely that we could (1) grow the wheat, (2) prepare it properly for use in bread, (3) obtain and keep the yeast alive, or (4) build and maintain a suitable fixture for baking it. We live in isolated households and do our marketing for the tiniest of consumption units; but, to get our bread to the table, we still need bakers, agribusiness, utility companies, and stove manufacturers. ”
yza5047 says
I agree that Cowan’s view of how industrialization has been changing people, especially households’ lives. It is interesting that you don’t really agree that no matter how technology is progressing or not, people can choose the way of our lives. I agree that we choose the way of our lives, but without technology, now, it would be bit difficult. I think all the convenience is coming from technology these days. Technology could also have negative impact on us; however, I think it has much more positive effect on us than negative effect. I’m also seeing industrialization as a positive thing. It could also bring a lot of controversies, but I think it also has much more positive impact than negative impact on the world.
Mackenzie Rose Liberatori says
It is interesting to think that technological advance meant to showcase our intelligence has limited our skills in a way. Society as a whole relies on so many other professions simply because technologies and industries developed to make our lives easier have made us dependent. This is not particularly detrimental to us in present time, but really focusing on the fact makes us realize that we would be majorly disadvantaged if technologies developed for our own ease simply disappeared. Technologies designed to make our lives easier showcase our innovation tactics — but do they make us lazier? I have to ask myself if I would really want to wash all of my dishes by hand or even attempt to grow wheat, harvest it, process it, and bake it into a loaf of bread.
I believe that this just has to do with our privilege growing up in well-developed countries. If we did not have these technologies, we would have to learn to do things the more tedious way. However, we are a product of our environment and if a process like a household chore or even a skill like making scratch bread isn’t something necessary to do, we will often lean towards the easier option.