The terms "homemaker" and "housewife" are often used interchangeably, but they can carry different connotations and implications:
Homemaker
- Definition: A homemaker is generally someone who manages a household and takes care of home-related tasks. This can include cooking, cleaning, budgeting, and organizing family activities.
- Gender Neutral: The term is not gender-specific and can refer to anyone, regardless of gender, who takes on these responsibilities.
- Broader Scope: It may encompass a wider range of duties, including caregiving for children or elderly family members, managing household finances, and even community involvement.
Housewife
- Definition: A housewife specifically refers to a married woman whose main responsibilities are managing the home and taking care of the family.
- Gender Specific: The term is traditionally gendered, implying that it is a role primarily for women.
- Cultural Context: In some cultures, "housewife" may carry traditional connotations, often emphasizing domestic duties and family care.
Summary
In summary, while both terms relate to managing a household, "homemaker" is more inclusive and gender-neutral, whereas "housewife" is specifically tied to the role of a married woman in the household context.
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Both refer to the same person, but the usage of these words makes a lot of difference.
I, for one, would like to call my mother a homemaker as opposed to a housewife.
Firstly, there's the difference between house and home. People change houses, but your home is your home.
To top this, it is my mother and her alone who makes our apartment a home for us. She deserves that her designation be something ie a word that indicates what work she does.
Housewife is an old fashioned term that puts women down to bring nothing but 'wives' of somebody, and that way it takes away their identity, by defining them as the wife of their husband. It also doesn't acknowledge any work that these women put in, and all of us know how much work that really is.
So I request most people to respect these women by considering homemaker to be their occupation.
Thanks!
EDIT: I can’t believe I forgot this angle. ‘Homemaker’ allows men too to be makers of the home, whereas ‘housewife’ (and patriarchy, basically) does not allow males this freedom.
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Although both sound same, but there is a small difference between homemaker and a housewife:-
- A homemaker can be either a man or a women whereas a housewife is always a women.
- In many countries being a homemaker is a job which many people persue ( they will do all the jobs of your home and at the completion of the job, they will charge some money) whereas being a housewife is a responsibility which a women carries all alone on her shoulders.
So in short, While the number of male homemakers are still on a lower side. women who carried the responsibility of their family, home since past many centuries are now getting a new and evolved designation from house wife to homemaker.
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Actually earlier when only men were earning and were the sole provider ,and women were looking after the house or home and were called housewife, gradually housewife was not getting enough respect.the word sounded to people like someone who is not doing anything important, so modern people changed it to home maker, that denotes an important job of making home. Its only cosmetic, I dont feel that there is any difference. Personally, earlier also I never thought of housewives mean doing nothing, in fact they had the most important job of making future citizens with proper values and education. Today the designation has become more important whereas that job is not given due diligence.
Its like this that earlier in manufacturing companies, there used head of departments called Manager and the top boss of company was general manager, then people started wanting to be called general manager, so they changed the name, now all department were headed by general manager..engg,maintenance etc etc..work was same, everything was same, just the designation changed, and it satisfied their ego.