Two conflicting stereotypes of housework exist in popular thinking today. According to one, the housewife is an oppressed worker: she slaves away in work that is degrading, unpleasant and essentially self-negating. According to the other, housework provides the opportunity for endless creative and leisure pursuits. In this view housework is not work but homemaking, and the home is a treasure house

The aesthetic appeal is strong. But how does this argument – and its converse – measure up to the reality of the housework situation as perceived by housewives themselves?

Throughout the forty interviews a clear perception of housework as work emerges. The women in the sample experience and define housework as labour, akin to that demanded by any job situation. Their observations tie in closely with many findings of the sociology of work; the aspects of housework that are cited as satisfying or dissatisfying have their parallels in the factory or office world. This equivalence is emphasized further by the women's own tendency to compare their reactions to housework with their experience of working outside the home.

A number of interview questions in particular provided answers on which these generalizations are based. The first two of these are questions about the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ aspects of being a housewife. Over half the answers to the ‘best’ aspects question refer to what could be called the work dimension of the role, as do almost all the answers to the ‘worst’ aspects question – even though these questions do not specify housework, but permit answers relating to marriage, motherhood and home life generally. (The answers are shown in Tables 3.1 and 3.2.) Of course it could be objected that the responses highlight this facet of the housewife role because much of the rest of the interview was taken up with questions about housework. Yet this generalization is consistent with the line taken by the women in many other comments made spontaneously – unprompted by questions from the interviewer.