The Sociology Book

319

Ads for household products from
the 1950s stereotype women as happy
housewives who have an emotional
attachment to the cleaning agents that
form such a key part of their lives.

See also: Sylvia Walby 96–99 ■ Harry Braverman 226–31 ■ Robert Blauner 232–33 ■ Arlie Hochschild 236–43 ■
Talcott Parsons 300–01 ■ Christine Delphy 312–17

FAMILIES AND INTIMACIES

when housework was not seen as
“real work.” Women are compelled
to engage in domestic duties for
no wages—an essential form of
exploitation that enables capitalism
to function and succeed: by
providing the needs of the male
worker, housewives ensure male
workers are able to provide the
needs of the economy.

A woman’s role?
Domestic duties have often been
regarded as natural for women,
due to their ability to give birth;
although why that capacity means
a woman is better able to iron
out creases in clothes is unclear.
Arguably, it does not occur to most
women to demand wages for the
work they give “for free.”
Karl Marx’s argument that
male workers are exploited in
paid employment is applicable to
women’s exploitation in the home.
Ideology serves to disguise this
fact by presenting housework as
“natural” for women and also not
worthy of a wage. Oakley contends,
however, that gender, and gender

roles, should be seen as reflecting

cultural and historical processes,

rather than as being tied to biology.

Alienation

Marx claims that workers, in

a system of private ownership,

experience alienation or

estrangement from their work

because they do not own the fruits

of their labor. Similarly, Oakley

insists, the majority of housewives

are dissatisfied with their lot,

finding nothing inherently

satisfying about their work, which

is lonely, monotonous, and boring.

They resent the low status that is

associated with being a housewife.

Like factory workers, they find their

jobs repetitive, fragmented, and

time-pressured.

Oakley’s studies reveal that

women report feelings of alienation

from their work more frequently

than factory workers. This is due

in part to their sense of social

isolation as housewives—many of

them had careers before marriage,

which they subsequently gave

up. These women, Oakley says,

have no autonomy or control;

responsibility for the work is theirs

alone and if it is not done they risk

an angry husband or sick children.

Viewed in this way, housework

prevents women from reaching

their full potential. Oakley’s

findings remain significant today:

recent research by, among others,

British sociologist Caroline Gatrell

shows that 40 years later women

are still doing most of the

housework, despite engaging

more in paid employment. ■

Ann Oakley

The sociologist and feminist

Ann Oakley was born in the

UK in 1944. She is professor of

sociology and social policy at

the University of London. After

completing a degree at Oxford,

where she was one of the first

students to take a sociology

option, she wrote two novels

but was unable to find a

publisher for them. She then

enrolled for a PhD and her first

academic book, Sex, Gender, and

Society, introduced the term

“gender” into everyday use.

Oakley’s first novel, The Men’s

Room, was published in 1988

and in 1991 it became a popular

BBC series starring Bill Nighy.

Oakley remains committed

to feminism, and much of her

work addresses gender issues.

She also has an interest in

developing environmentally

friendly cleaning products.

Key works

1972 Sex, Gender, and Society

1974 The Sociology of

Housework

1974 Housewife

Women’s domesticity

is a circle of learned

deprivation and

induced subjugation.

Ann Oakley