Industrial Housewives

Focusing on women and their work, this valuable historical study traces industrial social work from its inception through the Nazi period. Author Sachse provides an analysis of policies applied to women workers rather than developed by and for them--as an example of how social policy treats women. This thorough book examines the continuities and discontinuities of industrial social work, and assesses the effect on the industrial welfare system of developments within National Socialism. Within this framework the study examines the role of women in industrial social work and labor relations, the attitudes of various groups toward the proper relations between industry and government, and the well-documented relationship between industrialists and the German Labor Front (DAF), the organization that replaced the outlawed labor unions.

Housewives constitute a large section of the population, yet they have received very little attention, let alone respect. Glenna Matthews, who herself spent many years as "just a housewife" before becoming a scholar of American history, sets out to redress this imbalance. While the male world of work has always received the most respect, Matthews maintains that widespread reverence for the home prevailed in the nineteenth century. The early stages of industrialization made possible a strong tradition of cooking, baking, and sewing that gave women great satisfaction and a place in the world. Viewed as the center of republican virtue, the home also played an important religious role. Examining novels, letters, popular magazines, and cookbooks, Matthews seeks to depict what women had and what they have lost in modern times. She argues that the culture of professionalism in the late nineteenth century and the culture of consumption that came to fruition in the 1920s combined to kill off the "cult of domesticity." This important, challenging book sheds new light on a central aspect of human experience: the essential task of providing a society's nurture and daily maintenance.

Jessie Bernard was one of the foremost early feminist sociologists and public intellectuals in women's studies. In The Jessie Bernard Reader, Michael S. Kimmel and Yasemin Besen have compiled her most intriguing and influential work on marriage, the family, sexuality and changing women's roles in the United States. Bernard's pioneering works bridged the gap between academic social science and public advocacy for gender equality. Her books were landmarks in demarcating the effects of the "separation of spheres." Among her most celebrated arguments was that couples experienced two different marriages, "his" and "hers"-and that his was better than hers. This volume will inspire a new generation of scholars, a generation that inherits the gains for which Bernard struggled her entire career.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Brian Moylan, the writer of Vulture’s legendary Real Housewives recaps, a table-flipping, finger-pointing, halter-topping VIP journey through reality TV’s greatest saga... In the spring of 2006, a new kind of show premiered on Bravo: The Real Housewives of Orange County. Its stars were tanned, taut, and bedazzled; their homes were echoey California villas; and their drama was gossip-fueled, wine-drenched, and absolutely exquisite. Fifteen seasons on, RHOC is an institution, along with The Real Housewives of New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Miami, Potomac, and more. Over the years these ladies have done a lot more than lunch, launching thirty-one books, a cocktail line, two jail sentences, a couple supermodel daughters, Andy Cohen’s talk show career, thirty-six divorces, fourteen albums, a White House party crash, and approximately one million memes. Brian Moylan has been there through it all, in front of the screen and behind the scenes. The writer of Vulture’s beloved series recaps, he’s here to tell us the full story, from the inside scoop on every classic throwdown to the questions we’ve always wanted to know, like—what are the housewives really like off-camera? (The same.) How much money do they make? (Lots.) He has a lot to say about the legacy and fandom of a franchise that’s near and dear to his heart, and inextricable from pop culture today. A must-have for any fan of real drama and fake [redacted], The Housewives is the definitive companion to an American TV treasure.

Discover the complete social history of the housewife archetype, from colonial America to the 20th century, and re-examine common myths about the “modern woman.” The notion of “housewife” evokes strong reactions. For some, it’s nostalgia for a bygone era, simpler and better times when men were breadwinners and women remained home with the kids. For others, it’s a sexist, oppressive stereotype of women’s work. Either way, housewife is a long outdated concept—or is it? Lisa Selin Davis, known for her smart, viral, feminist, cultural takes, argues that the “breadwinner vs. homemaker” divide is a myth. She charts examples from prehistoric female hunters to working class housewives in the 1930s, from First Ladies to 21st century stay-at-home moms, on a search for answers to the problems of what is referred to as women’s work and motherhood. Davis discovers that women have been sold a lie about what families should be. Housewife unveils a truth: interdependence, rather than independence, is the American way. The book is a clarion call for all women—married or single, mothers or childless—and for men, too, to push for liberation. In Housewife, Davis builds a case for systemic, cultural, and personal change, to encourage women to have the power to choose the best path for themselves.