Professor Sayyida Mahmoud Writes: "Housewife" and "Head of Family"... Concepts That Feminism Seeks to Erase

Professor Sayyida Mahmoud Writes: "Housewife" and "Head of Family"... Concepts That Feminism Seeks to Erase

Our societies today lack a comprehensive framework to recognize women's roles within their natural contexts, whether in private or public life. Many researchers and activists in the feminist field adopt a partial perspective that is highly influenced by Western civilization, without formulating a different approach that incorporates the changes of modern times. This is part of the cultural crisis we are currently experiencing, as we fall into conceptual traps by making the West the benchmark through which we measure our concepts. This has led us to confusion in understanding our reality, learning from our history, and envisioning the future. This issue worsened after many Western theories failed, and the West itself retracted numerous theories it had previously promoted.

Instead of learning from the West’s retreat from these philosophies, we find ourselves adopting its intellectual waste and parroting it. This is evident when doubting concepts that form the essence of family life, and abandoning these means the family itself fades into the past. Among these essential concepts are "Head of the Family" and "Housewife," as both are the pillars on which the family stands.

Emptying the Concept of Fatherhood!

The term "Head of the Family" as a leader of the household was used positively in foreign literature until the mid-20th century, signifying love and parenthood. Writers of the 19th century used it in phrases that implied "admirable paternal qualities." However, by the mid-20th century, the term was given a negative connotation by figures like Morgan and Bachofen in 1970. Radical feminists then adopted this view to build much of their theory on dismantling the family structure, claiming that women were oppressed. Feminist activist Kate Millett in Sexual Politics (1971) argued that family leadership equates to male dominance, and the concept of patriarchy began to describe any form of male leadership, both inside and outside the family.

As such, Western feminist movements in the 1970s adopted this term, considering it a system to oppose. Feminism became synonymous with rebelling against this patriarchal system, and a woman could not be considered feminist unless she rebelled against everything symbolizing male authority. Sarah Gamble states: "The term feminism refers to any attempt to challenge the patriarchy in any form, from 1550 to 1770."

Thus, the concept of fatherhood was completely emptied of all connotations of giving, love, protection, and all positive aspects, and instead, was reloaded with meanings full of male dominance and control.

Feminists began to repeat—based on myths that Western anthropologists themselves have debunked—that children were initially affiliated with the mother, while everyone ignored who the father was. "She births them, feeds them, and cares for them. Consequently, there is no such thing as a right to fatherhood. The matriarchal system became patriarchal through men's manipulations, the first of which was centered around the desire for private property and men's urge to possess women and children. Thus, the woman became a part born from the man’s rib—specifically, his ‘crooked rib’! Children began to be attributed to the father, and the family became centered around the 'Head of the Family,' who sought to increase the number of boys in particular, seeing in their numbers a ‘political power’ and a ‘military entourage’ of unmatched strength. Every sexual act by a man turned into a ‘power move,’ asserting his masculinity and sovereignty as an emperor ruling his small kingdom—the home. The wife became subordinate to the man, revolving in the orbit of the 'Head of the Family,' and the male child became a source of pride, while the female child was a source of shame and disgrace. The woman transformed from a sacred goddess into a prostitute... into a field for the man to plow and a machine for producing offspring."

Housewife and the "Oppression of Women"!

Closely linked to the concept of "Head of the Family" is "Housewife," a term that both liberal and Marxist feminists have fiercely attacked, viewing it as a source of oppression for women.

Capitalism relies on women as a constant source of low-wage labor. To continue attracting women to the workforce, capitalism has facilitated solutions for what women might view as obstacles in managing the home and childcare, establishing daycare centers and benefiting some financially. Technology has also played a role. Sharon Smith writes in Theorizing Women’s Oppression: Domestic Labor and the Oppression of Women that "as more women joined the workforce, the time they spent on domestic work decreased. Preparing food became less time-consuming, and doing laundry less taxing. Schools took over much of the educational duties. Recently, the availability of frozen foods, microwave ovens, washing machines, and daycare centers further reduced domestic tasks."

In another passage, Smith refers to what she sees as feminist achievements, emphasizing women’s exit to paid work: "Contrary to Marx’s prediction, the family did not dissolve as a social institution. But the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s challenged the notion that a woman’s entire ambition should be marriage and child-rearing. This, combined with women’s increased participation in paid work, led to drastic changes in traditional family structures: fewer women adopted their husbands' last names, and due to the LGBTQ movement, more same-sex couples now raise children, challenging gender stereotypes within families. The rise in divorce rates also increased single-parent families, typically headed by women living in poverty. With more women working, many have fewer children and give birth later in life. Household duties have also decreased compared to previous decades, partly due to improvements in domestic technology."

The Marxist analysis explores why domestic labor is often assigned to women, attributing it to what feminists call "reproductive slavery." Feminist analysis, supported by Marxist feminists, argues that men and women can perform all household tasks except childbirth, during which women receive various support forms, often provided by male family members. After repeated births, this dependency becomes institutionalized as men adopt economic responsibility, leading to laws that justify this arrangement.

Western Ideologies and Their Influence on Arab Society

If the family, a fundamental institution preserving human cultural memory, national identity, and values, has been dismantled in the West, this ideological influence has begun to infiltrate Arab society. We are now seeing an active effort to redefine the value of women’s achievements by measuring them solely by their external, financial productivity. It seems the dedication of a wife to raising her children and preparing future generations is viewed as economically irrelevant, even though it is indispensable to society.

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References

1. Hirita, Helena et al., Dictionnaire critique du féminisme, 2nd edition, Presses Universitaires de France, 2004.
2. Sarah Gamble, Feminism and Postfeminism, Supreme Council of Culture, Cairo, 2000, p. 22.
3. Blank Mitani, Social Sexuality as the Official Ideology of Power, Al-Hiwar Al-Mutamaddin.
4. Sharon Smith, Theorizing Women’s Oppression: Domestic Labor and the Oppression of Women, International Socialist Review, September 14, 2016.
5. The term HBTQ refers to homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender identity, equivalent to the English acronym LGBTT.
6. Sharon Smith, op. cit.
7. Distinguishing it from same-sex families, heterosexuality refers to a woman’s marriage to a man.
8. Sharon Smith, op. cit.
9. For more details, see: John Stuart Mill, The Subjugation of Women, Cairo, Madbouly Library, 1998.
10. For more details, see: Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, Cairo, 1957.