.jpg)
Changing expectations and the quiet revolution inside British homes.
In the 1960s and 70s Britain, housework was seen as "women’s work". If that sounds controversial, then yes, it was, but at the time, that was the norm. When it came to domestic chores — cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing, and childcare were all seen as part of the assumed daily responsibilities of wives and mothers.
It was women that were expected to look after the home. Men, by contrast, were usually expected to “help out” with certain “manly” duties, like cleaning the windows or anything that might involve heavy lifting. General housework, only occasionally, if at all.
At the time, this was simply the accepted order of things in the home.
The Division of Labour
While women had been called upon to fill the void in the workforce in wartime, post-war Britain inherited a rigid division of roles. Men went out to work while women ran the home. It was still seen as an ambition for a woman to find a husband who had a good job, a trade, or profession, and get married. The married woman who stayed at home would invariably be described as a housewife.
Of course, there were jobs for and aimed at women, traditional jobs like secretary, typist, or care work. Many women worked, some even had careers, but they were still expected to be the homemaker, housewife, and mother. The war had brought about some change, but traditional expectations of gender roles remained.
My mother did both, she had two jobs.
She took care of the home and also went out to work, that is, until she became a home worker. She was a machinist, and a very good one. Anything that could be made on a sewing machine, she could do. After my brother and I arrived, she worked from home. Whether it was because of tradition or what was expected of her, she accepted the dual role. In fact, she was the “boss” in our home.
Even as more women entered paid employment during the 1960s and 70s, expectations at home only changed slowly, or not at all. If a woman had a day job, when it ended, she returned home to find that meals still needed cooking and the home and children still needed looking after. It was rare for men to do such tasks, as many would arrive home from work and expect their dinner to be waiting for them.
Home Life
Housework itself was time-consuming and physically demanding. For many people, the consumer revolution that brought technology to the home either hadn’t arrived or was not affordable. Washing machines, fridge freezers and tumble dryers are common now but back then were rare, as was the use of labour-saving devices in general. Handwashing of clothes and ironing was the norm, or a trip to the local launderette.
It all took time.
The idea that men should do their share of these tasks simply wasn’t widespread. When men did take part in domestic work, it was often described as “helping”, rather than sharing responsibility. It mattered because it implied that the home belonged to women and that men were assisting. Typical “men’s jobs” included mowing the lawn, taking out the bins, or doing DIY at the weekend. Daily tasks — washing up, making beds, cleaning floors — were rarely part of a husband’s routine.
And for many men, this division went unquestioned. It was how their parents had lived, and how everyone around them seemed to live, too. The roles in the home had been set by tradition and expectation.
However, all of this changed in my family, but out of necessity, when my parents got divorced in the late 1960s. For a while, I stayed with my father, and he had no choice at that point but to take responsibility for the home and all domestic chores. My memories are somewhat sketchy on how good he was looking after the home; it probably helped that we did not have much to look after.
What I do remember was that cooking was not his forte. Breakfast and lunch were easy to prepare, as they involved cereals and sandwiches — in fact, I used to make my own. The traditional evening meal, our dinner, was often of the TV meal variety. The ready meal that usually came in a tin tray, thirty minutes in the oven, was his speciality.
I also remember that fish and chips (or sausage and chips) from the local "chippy", were regularly on the menu as well.
This changed for us when we went to live with my Gran, Dad’s mother. She had a lifetime of experience as a domestic goddess, and my Dad reverted to his non-domestic role.
In the early 1970s, I went to live with Mam. She had remarried to a very traditional man who became my stepdad. In her new life, Mam had continued the dual role of housewife and working from home. They were roles that she never really changed from.
A Time of Change
These domestic roles were so accepted as the norm back then that popular culture reflected British home life in this way all the time. Many television adverts were aimed at women in the home. That new vacuum cleaner, washing powder, or kitchen appliance was aimed at women. Meanwhile, men were there to pay for it.
If you want an example of the domestic role of women from the 1970s, then look no further than the character Margo Leadbetter in the BBC comedy, The Good Life. Perfectly played by Penelope Keith, Margo is the classic example of a traditional housewife, albeit a very upwardly mobile, middle-class version.
Margo’s husband is Jerry, a professional breadwinner. It is Margo who rules the home and domestic arrangements, and Jerry knew his place — which was to not interfere. Meanwhile, next door, Tom and Barbara Good were more of a modern couple, for the most part sharing the daily chores of their self-sufficient lifestyle.
Television, magazines, agony aunt advice columns, and even school lessons assumed that girls would grow up to manage the home, while boys would pursue a trade or career as the primary breadwinner. From an early age domestic skills were gendered, but change was on the horizon.
The 1960s and Women’s Liberation
By the late 1960s and into the 1970s, things began to change, slowly and unevenly. The women’s liberation movement challenged long-standing assumptions about gender roles. More women stayed in work after marriage. Conversations about equality entered public life, and more women began to look for academic and career opportunities, away from the traditional jobs and life that were expected of them.
I cannot say that I noticed such change in my home, as my mother continued much as before. She was, in many ways, a person who I would describe as “traditional” in her outlook on life. She was not a great supporter of the women’s liberation movement, although I suspect she agreed with many of their aims. She was a strong believer in the importance of a woman having her own source of income and not having to totally rely on a man. She was never just a housewife.
Resistance to Change
I think it was the case that at the time, not everyone welcomed these changes. Some men felt uncomfortable or threatened by shifting expectations. Others simply didn’t see the need. Tradition and politics came into it. Change often came with a generational divide. Inevitably, the younger generation was more likely to challenge the old way of doing things. The older generation, brought up in more traditional ways, looked on with disbelief or disapproval. What had once been “normal” began to feel outdated.
Change would still take time and political will, though.
Looking Back from Today
From a modern perspective, the way things were in the 1960s and 70s is now a thing of the past. Today, shared domestic responsibility is widely expected, even if it isn’t always perfectly achieved. The change of domestic life in Britain didn’t happen overnight. And today, the battle for equality goes on, especially when it comes to pay and opportunity.
And Britain is very different today. Even little things like the economics and financial change that has happened — for example, there was a time when a home could be bought on one salary, which was usually the man’s — today this is very difficult. The need for two salaries coming in is more the norm now.
The economy certainly requires both men and women to work now!
So yes — there was a time when men rarely helped with housework. For decades, it was simply how life worked. The fact that it no longer feels inevitable is a reminder of just how much can change, one household at a time.
More Did You Know stories of British Life in the 1960s and 70s, can be found here.
Photo 1 by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Photo 2 by Hennie Stander on Unsplash
No comments:
Post a Comment