PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Following is the first of a four-part series of columns by staff writer Anne Waits on the changing role of women in the home.

Some time back I thought about writing a series of articles on the changing roles of women in the home.

Following a spirited conversation I had with a friend (male, of course) and after reading the book, “Why Women Should Rule the World” by Dee Dee Myers, White House Press Secretary during the Clinton administration (which by the way was purchased for me by the same friend), I decided to do some research on my own as to just how much times have changed in this respect in the last 50 to 60 years.

My friend, who is from the old school, seemed to hold the traditional opinion that a woman’s place is in the home and that her primary role should be taking care of her husband and children. The man’s primary role should be making a living for the family. He, like many of us of the older generation can remember, with a twinge of nostalgia, coming home from school to our moms in the kitchen and fresh-baked cookies or apple pie on the table. The majority of married women did not work back then. Most were expected to give up their jobs as teachers, nurses, clerical workers or whatever once they married and especially after their children were born.

My friend contended that women, even those who are compelled to work for whatever reason, should still cook full meals and be at home with their husbands when night time comes. I remember once when I had covered a meeting at night where food was served and many of the attendees were married women, I later talked to my friend on the phone. He commented, “I’ll bet there wasn’t one homemade item there.”

I argued that most of the women worked full-time jobs and didn’t have time to cook from scratch. He answered with, “They could if they wanted to.”

My answer to that was, “Maybe they don’t want to.” With the exception, of course, of those who particularly enjoy cooking.

As one can see, I hold a very different viewpoint from that of my friend. I personally do not see a need for “women’s roles” and “men’s roles,” per se. During my first marriage, my husband, who had been raised with eight sisters, liked to cook and was an excellent seamstress. He, however, hated any kind of paperwork. And I, who liked cleaning and doing laundry but didn’t particularly care for cooking, often washed the automobiles and took them for an oil change, sometimes mowed the lawn and always paid the bills. I believe that as long as the job gets done, what does it matter?

Although the book dealt primarily with women’s roles in the work world and politics (which might be a topic for a future series), I obtained some good quotes and information as to the problems associated with marriage, child-rearing and a career at the same time.
All of this set me to thinking. With more and more women working full-time because of necessity or because of their desire to achieve their own goals and aspirations (statistics from 2008 show that of the 121 million women in the United States, 72 million, or 59.5 percent, were labor force participants), how do they juggle the responsibilities of the home and motherhood? And are men pulling their weight when it comes to dividing chores (many women work just as hard as men on the job)?
What about stay-home mothers and retired women? Do they follow the traditional role or are women evolving to a new level these days? Is the line between a “woman’s job” and a “man’s job” in the home becoming more blurred?

I set out to interview 75 women from all walks of life, with varied occupations and viewpoints. It eventually became 100. For the purpose of this series, I focused on married women, since single women are a whole different story. They enjoy more freedom to do things when and if they want, but they also bear all of the responsibilities.

For my random survey, I asked 20 questions and obtained answers from women ages 18 to 80-something, with more in the 30 to 60 year-old age range, but a fair amount of 20s, 70s and 80s. The women were a good mix of Caucasian and African-American, with some Asian, Indian and Hispanic.

The majority of those surveyed were from within the CSRA, but some were from other parts of Georgia and South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Indiana—and several were from as far away as Italy.

My calculations showed that 14 percent were housewives, four percent owned a home business, 14 percent were retired and 68 percent worked outside the home.

Occupations ranged from a waitress to a brain surgeon, with those in-between consisting of computer technicians, hair stylists, customer service/sales, nurses, teachers, clerical, health care technicians, entertainers—and managers, administrators and CEOs.

The amount of time they had been married was anywhere from six days to 68 years.
While I do not propose to say that the results represent an accurate or average description of life among married women these days, I do believe it is a fair sampling. The answers were entertaining, informative and sometimes disappointing.

Stay tuned as we talk about the cooking and housework aspects of “women’s roles” these days in next week’s portion of the series.