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Word of the day: Housewife vs Homemaker
I have explained this many times during my teaching career.
Many students in Japan still use the term housewife either to refer to themselves or somebody else.
Unfortunately, the term housewife is not politically correct anymore, and its usage is outdated in Western countries.
Here is the reason.
The word housewife only refers to women and has the nuance that a woman’s place is in the home, handling housework and household finances, etc.
It is an outdated concept of women and their position in society.
Women can, should and must be able to do absolutely anything they want in a Western country.
What if a woman wants to stay home to care for her children or for other reasons?
Well, we have another term for that.
People commonly use the term homemaker or even stay-at-home mom.
The word homemaker is gender-neutral because it can be a man or a woman.
These days, many men are taking a more active role in childcare and household duties such as cooking, cleaning, etc.
We call them イクメン in Japan.
Some men chose to become stay-at-home dads.
Another reason why people prefer homemaker is the nuance that the person who stays in the home creates an atmosphere of warmth and happiness in the house.
A ‘house’ is just a building, but a ‘home’ is where we live and feel safe. I hope this is a good explanation of the difference between a housewife and a homemaker.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 64.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.