Woman's Work
January 2007
21cm x 15cm x 3cm
Description
Old cookery book with elastic and garter around it.
Themes, comments & storylines
A closed book. Old history in spite of the title ‘Modern Cookery’. No need to re- open it – maybe more useful as a prop or weight. If there are no pages to turn, is it still a book? Should it be re-classified as an object?
"In the intimate harmony of walls and furniture, it may be said that we become conscious of a house that is built by women, since men only know how to build a house from the outside, and they know little or nothing of the ‘wax’ civilization."
Bachelard, Gaston (1994), The Poetics of Space, translated by Maria Jolas, Beacon Press, Boston, p.68
“Women still do the majority of the household chores, despite their increased participation in the labour market. Women spend nearly 3 hours a day on average on housework (excluding shopping and childcare). This compares with the one hour 40 minutes spent by men. Women also spend more time than men looking after children. (…) Two in five men do not do the ironing and a similar proportion do not do the laundry, while the proportion of women who do not do these tasks is fewer than one in 12 women.”
Attitude to household chores UK 200/2001, National Statistics Online
More cleaning and housework stories
The legacy of women's work