“Giving orders in the kitchen”

Press, 14 November 1977, Page 18

“Giving orders in the kitchen”

Sir, — Your editorial under this heading shows an extreme blindness to the state of society in Nev; Zealand. A girl grows up believing that marriage will be all joy and happiness —in fact she finds herself completely at her husband’s mercy, psychologically and economically. By now the woman is trapped — trapped with children seven days a week, 2'4 hours a day. Being constantly with young children, who have a short attention span which is characteristic of mentally defective adults, means that the woman can come to function like one herself. Her insomnia, her bitchiness, her snarling at her children, are thought of as normal in New Zealand. Yet this “normal upbringing” by a “fultime mother” is our major health problem. Our children grow up with a terrible feeling of anxiety that the failure of their parents’ marriage is their fault. Surely 66 pages of Social Development Council Report for discussion is fully justified. — Yours, etC NOREEN KEIGHTLEY. November 11, 1977. [“The Press” has seen no objections to the report being discussed, or in the committee’s obtaining information on how families are managing and sharing their responsibilities. Our article, however, expressed a distaste for authorities that might be inclined to instruct people how to conduct their private lives. If families can organise their responsibilities in a more satisfying way, perhaps through a greater awareness of fair sharing, so much the better.—Editor]