The Difference Between a Homemaker and a Housewife

When we hear home or house, we naturally think that’s a woman’s office. A place where she must nurture, build, serve, and spin into a miraculous success, despite any other duties she may have outside the home and the house. The home and the house are also seen as the same thing and are in fact used interchangeably.

However, this is a great misconception. The house is a building where people live, while the home is a is an institution that is not limited by location or space, but consists of people who have chosen to be members of one family, one can say that it is a place where one’s domestic affections are centered. That is why, even though Google or a dictionary may not help when researching the difference between a homemaker and a housewife, categorizing them as almost the same thing, they are simply not.

Speaking basically, only a wife can be a housewife, a woman who is married to a man and solely committed to taking care of his needs, their home, the house, and children if they have any. This woman typically is expected to be fully cared for by the man, who provides her needs, particularly financially as she has no other place or career to earn from.

However, a homemaker is not limited to a woman or a wife. Anyone, who has an interest in the home and the stakeholders involved, can be a homemaker. In fact, in cases where families have busy work schedules, a homemaker can be a hired help. Homemaking is also a shared responsibility between all responsible members of the home. It is indeed noteworthy to say that you can be a housewife, without being a homemaker, but this is not common.

In our generation, there is a strong case against women who choose to just be at home. The feminist era has birthed the right energy to help females all over the world achieve equality. Nonetheless, we must not forget that having a successful career is not what liberates a woman and gives her a sense of balance and equality. Instead, it’s her ability to be able to make a choice and not forced to become a shadow of her dream self.

Truly, there is a lot of brainwashing to be corrected, so that first a woman knows that she can choose to be whatever she wants to be. And if she chooses to be a housewife, who is well cared for by a partner that can carry the financial weight of the family, then this is okay too.

But there is no choice when it comes to homemaking, we must all play our parts as homemakers. It is a role that we owe to society.