http://dl.lib.brown.edu/pdfs/1301604078937504.pdf

The Drudge

The piece I chose to analyze is an article in The Freewoman from Thursday, February 8,1912 titled "The Drudge". It is the opening article of that weeks edition and discusses feminism from what I see as a completely new angle. The author describes the modern housewife as a drudge and burden to her household because she does not earn her keep like women of earlier times did. The author argues that with technological advancements making domestic life so much easier, the suburban housewife no longer earns her keep as a mother and caretaker of home, children, and husband. This is an entirely new perspective to me in that I have only ever heard arguments for feminism arguing a woman's equality, not that her staying in the home is burdensome to the family and society. The author suggests pre kindergarten care for children as the only way that a woman's place in the workplace will become permanent. I found it interesting that the programs and methods described are essentially what's used by families today to allow both parents to work. 

The attitude of the article was somewhat negative and seemed to be appealing more to men than to women, describing housewives as a drudge and belittling, whether intentional or not, their function in the home. This is a somewhat risky strategy, though it made many valid, though harsh, points. I thought the article was nearly mysoginistic in a non-traditional way, arguing that women of that day no longer served a function in the home worthy enough of being "paid" by their husbands. It even went so far as to discuss that their provision of love was not enough because they'll just begin to question whether or not they loved or were loved.