Idea 1: Domestic

Domestic

–adjective

1. of or pertaining to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family: domestic pleasures.

2. devoted to home life or household affairs.

3. tame; domesticated.

4. of or pertaining to one's own or a particular country as apart from other countries: domestic trade.

5. indigenous to or produced or made within one's own country; not foreign; native: domestic goods.

–noun

6. a hired household servant.

7. something produced or manufactured in one's own country.

8. domestics, household items made of cloth, as sheets, towels, and tablecloths.

Quotes

“Beginning in the 19th century, the required educational preparation, particularly for the practice of medicine, increased. This tended to prevent many young women, who married early and bore many children, from entering professional careers.” (wic)

“ Traditionally a middle-class girl in Western culture tended to learn from her mother's example that cooking, cleaning, and caring for children was the behavior expected of her when she grew up.” (wic)

Articles

http://hubpages.com/hub/Women-and-the-Domestic-Realm

http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm

Annotated Bibliography

“Women’s History In America.” Presented by Women’s International Center.   http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm

This article is about women and the roles they have played in politics, the workplace, and women fighting for equality.  This article contains numerous facts about the history of feminist roles and how they have progressed over the decades. 

“A Women’s Place?” Women and the Domestic Realm http://hubpages.com/hub/Women-and-the-Domestic-Realm

This article is about a women’s place or position in the household and the work that they were expected to do. 

In my last meeting with Paul, it was suggested that I look into domestic current living situations compared to those of prior generations.  Women were for generations not allowed to pursue certain careers or advance. This held true in the medical field, “Beginning in the 19th century, the required educational preparation, particularly for the practice of medicine, increased. This tended to prevent many young women, who married early and bore many children, from entering professional careers.” (wic)

During World War II many woman entered the work force only to return to domestic life after the war ended.  As late as the nineteen fifties females upon graduating from high school still had limited career choices. Furthermore, women generally were expected to abandon their careers and assume responsible for overseeing the household and children if they married. “ Traditionally a middle-class girl in Western culture tended to learn from her mother's example that cooking, cleaning, and caring for children was the behavior expected of her when she grew up.” (wic) This held true in the 1960s. This idea is important with my work because I am interested in domestic space as a setting.   Though females have more educational opportunities and job choices many females still seek a balance of combining a traditional household and career.

I plan on examining the “common” photographs that I took last semester and look at how they relate to a feminist perspective in a domestic space.  My project originated with the idea of repeating events and characters in the household and the roles that they “play” essentially I am focusing more on women’s roles of the household and how they have remained fairly constant over generations.