Unpaid Housekeeper

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31728, 11 July 1968, Page 2

Unpaid Housekeeper

(N.Z. Pres. Association.) AUCKLAND, July 10. Women’s role—exclusively home and family—was so firmly ingrained in most men’s minds that it would take a lot of changing, said Dr G. D. Stones, of the Auckland Marriage Guidance Council, today, commenting on Dr McDonald’s talk.

Dr Stones said that the New Zealand man tended to look on his wife as an unpaid housekeeper. He tended not to cultivate or continue the courtship after marriage. Once married, he felt he no longer had to do anything. The man considered the woman had her jobs in the home to do and expected her to get on with them. He did

not consider the possibility of her branching out into other spheres to give variety to her life. In very few cases was the woman encouraged in this direction. He' agreed there were strong social pressures throughout the Western world which forced some women into marriage. “A number of these women would be far better off remaining single,” he said. The Idea of having a man and wife each working a halfday and sharing the household duties was probably theoretically sound, but he could not see the men’s concept of a women’s role changing enough to allow the scheme to be adopted.