Home and work : housework, wages, and the ideology of labor in the early republic

Over The Course Of A Two Hundred Year Period, Women's Domestic Labor Gradually Lost Its Footing As A Recognized Aspect Of Economic Life In America. The Image Of The Colonial Goodwife, Valued For Her Contribution To Household Prosperity, Had Been Replaced By The Image Of A Dependent And A Non-producer. This Book Is A History Of Housework In The United States Prior To The Civil War. More Particularly, It Is A History Of Women's Unpaid Domestic Labor In The Context Of The Emergence Of An Industrialized Society In The Northern United States. Boydston Argues That Just As A Capitalist Economic Order Had First To Teach That Wages Were The Measure Of A Man's Worth, It Had At The Same Time, Implicitly Or Explicitly, To Teach That Those Who Did Not Draw Wages Were Dependent And Not Essential To The Real Economy. Developing A Striking Account Of The Gender And Labor Systems That Characterized Industrializing America, Boydston Explains How This Effected The Devaluation Of Women's Unpaid Labor. Introduction -- An Oeconomical Society -- A New Source Of Profit And Support -- How Strangely Metamorphosed -- All The In-doors Work -- The True Economy Of Housekeeping -- The Political Economy Of Housework -- The Pastoralization Of Housework -- Notes -- Bibliography - Index. Jeanne Boydston. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 197-215) And Index. "Over the course of a two hundred year period, women's domestic labor gradually lost its footing as a recognized aspect of economic life in America. The image of the colonial "goodwife," valued for her contribution to household prosperity, had been replaced by the image of a "dependent" and a "non-producer." This book is a history of housework in the United States prior to the Civil War. More particularly, it is a history of women's unpaid domestic labor in the context of the emergence of an industrialized society in the northern United States. Boydston argues that just as a capitalist economic order had first to teach that wages were the measure of a man's worth, it had at the same time, implicitly or explicitly, to teach that those who did not draw wages were dependent and not essential to the "real economy." Developing a striking account of the gender and labor systems that characterized industrializing America, Boydston explains how this effected the devaluation of women's unpaid labor."--Résumé de l'éditeur