The "Average Housewife" in Post-World War II Italy

Abstract

This article examines the figure of the housewife and domestic work in post-World War II Italy. Fascism promoted two images of the housewife: the middle-class, urban homemaker inspired by American conceptions of "home economics," and the "rural farmwife" destined to prevail during the thirties. These two images offer both continuity and disjuncture with the image of the housewife in the post-1945 period. The social and economic context in postwar Italy favored the diffusion of the image of the full-time homemaker, an effect of the family policies promoted by the two principal political parties. Instruction manuals on home economics appeared in great numbers during the 1950s and 1960s. Examining these manuals prompts the following questions: How was the role of the woman in the home defined? What was her relationship with the world beyond the family? How was she supposed to perform her work? Domestic work expands in these decades to a few ultimate practices, becoming a totalizing mission and a value in itself, but resulting in the exclusion of women from any large-scale participation and activity in the life of the nation.

Labor Market Flows Between the Two World Wars: Estimates for Interwar Italy, 1921-1940

“…it is important to pinpoint that by far the largest share of the inactive population is represented by housewives which fall under the category of "domestic work". The Fascist era promoted "two images of the housewife: "the middle-class, urban homemaker inspired by American conceptions of "home economics," and the "rural farm-wife" destined to prevail during the thirties" (Tasca and Hilwig (2004)…”

Women in accounting: a historical review of obstacles and drivers on a patriarchal and classist path

“…The epicentre of the domestic ideal was the home as a private sphere, the destiny and reserve of women, where they could display patience, mercy and sweetness, they felt useful, accomplished and influential and where they repaid male administration and protection with deference, cleanliness, care, comfort and joy, as a way to retain them so that they were not forced to seek happiness elsewhere (Capelo-Bernal et al, 2018;Tasca & Hilwig, 2004;Vickery, 1993;Welter, 1966).…”

“…Another of the patriarchal presumptions was the classification of women as staunch consumers and financially irresponsible. Thus, domestic, internal or private domain accounting arose during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as a frequent, rigorous and detailed system for registering and reporting accounts maintained by women with the purpose of being accountable to their husbands, who acted as a control figure against the irrepressible female spending Komori, 2007;Tasca & Hilwig, 2004;.…”

“…Thus, women could conform to the model of the ideal woman who, acting as a guardianÿ wise and carefully tracking, caring for, preserving and managing her husband's wealth and possessions and household finances, keeping records of domestic stores and budgeting for consumption. Skills and knowledge in domestic accounting constituted a way of being eligible and prepared for marriage and, later, the basis for gaining the liking, affection, esteem and trust of her husband, a form of taking care of him and having a greater influence on him, guaranteeing his happiness and that of the marriage, as well as family harmony and wellbeing Tasca & Hilwig, 2004;.…”

“…In compliance with the foregoing, a review of academic papers will be carried out ranging from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, a period of time in which the patriarchal apogee is located, there is the greatest evolution of the accounting and in turn the greatest advance of women on the way to parity (Allen, 2014;Capelo-Bernal et al, 2018;Cooper, 2010;Emery et al, 2002;Gordon, 2004;Licini, 2011;Smith-Rosenberg, 1972;Tasca, 2004;Vickery, 1993;Virtanen, 2009;.…”