ON HOUSEKEEPING—WOMAN’S BURDENS.
The following essay on this subject was read by Mrs. Bloomer before a local society or club in Council Bluffs:
“It has always seemed to me that there was something wrong in the present system of housekeeping. Men have particular branches of business to which they give their exclusive attention, and never attempt to carry on three or four trades at the same time. Housekeeping comprises at least three trades, that of cook, laundress and seamstress, to which might be added that of house cleaning; and yet it is expected of woman that she will single-handed successfully carry on these various trades, and at the same time bear and rear children and teach them to become great and good. How long would men undergo a like amount of labor without devising some means of lightening and separating its burdens?
“I wish to call your attention to the fact that in the mythical second chapter of Genesis, upon which men lay so much stress as their authority for subjugating and belittling the position of woman, no toil was imposed on our Mother Eve. The ground was cursed for man’s sake, and he was to labor and eat his bread in the sweat of his face. But to woman no command to labor was given, no toil laid upon her, no ground or stove cursed for her sake. She was to bear children; but motherhood was never cursed by the Almighty. Woman is the mother of mankind, the living Providence (under God) who gives to every human being its mental, moral and physical organization, who stamps upon every human heart her seal for good or for evil. How important then that her surroundings be pleasant, her thoughts elevated, her mind imbued with the best and noblest traits, her individuality acknowledged, her freedom assured, that she may impart wise and noble characters to her children, surround them with good influences and train them in all goodness and virtue! This is the part of woman. But how can she be fitted for such life work when subjected to the whims and commands of another, to the constant round of housekeeping labor, to toil and drudgery, to cares, annoyances and perplexities which she has not health and strength and nerve to bear? How can one woman cook and wash dishes three times a day, sweep and dust the house, wash and iron, scrub and clean, make and mend and darn for a family, and yet have time or spirit for the improvement of her own mind so that she may stamp strong characters upon her children? How can a mother whose every hour from early morn to late at night is filled with cares and worries and toil to supply the physical needs of her family find time or be prepared to instruct properly the tender minds committed to her care?
“It is to woman’s weary hours and broken health, and to her subject, unhappy and unsatisfactory position, that we may impute much of the evil, vice and crime that are abroad. And to the same cause are due so many domestic quarrels, separations and divorces. Children are born into the world with the stamp of the mother’s mind upon them. I believe it is conceded that children are more indebted to their mothers than to their fathers for their natural gifts. How important then that every facility be afforded the mother for making good impressions on her child! How strange that men so entirely overlook this law of inheritance! What can they expect of children when the mother is degraded and enslaved?
“Is there not some way of relief from this drudging, weary work over the cook stove, washtub and sewing machine; from this load of labor and care? Why should one hundred women in each of one hundred separate houses be compelled to do the work that could equally as well or better be done by less than one-fifth of that number by some reasonable and just system of coöperation? Why cannot the cooking and washing and sewing be all attended to in a coöperative establishment, and thus relieve women, and mothers particularly, of the heavy burdens their fourfold labors now impose upon them, and give them time for self-improvement and the care and culture of their children? It is said that in the city of New York there are but 30,000 household servants to more than 270,000 families. By this we see that nine out of every ten wives and mothers in that city are subjected to the daily round of household labor. Can we not trace a large percentage of the vice and degradation of that city to that cause? And this state of things will hold good to a large extent over the whole country.
“Time is not allowed me to go into the details of coöperative housekeeping, even had I the matter well matured in my own mind, which I have not. But I have given reasons why some plan should be devised to relieve woman of hard labor and crushing care, and I leave it for her who is to follow on my side of the question to present a plan that shall recommend itself to our approval.
“A. B.”