by April Phelps

Created on: April 19, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

One cultural activity that perpetuates a dominant ideology like a good work ethic is housework. Some of the operating values associated with housework are order, cleanliness, efficiency, industriousness, and integrity, to name a few. Yet the industry resulting from the stay-at-home mom's or dad's housework isn't as immediately obvious, at least not to capitalists, and perhaps to those who inadvertantly capitalize from it. In addition few domestic engineeers receive a paycheck for their efforts. However chores like cleaning the toilet, washing the dirty dishes, and preparing meals also requires the organizational and managerial skills found in the business community.

It would seem that housework is a bad thing is the implication of the activity is a mere rearranging and pushing around of dirt and dust that eventually settles. Yet what if what is being brought into the home is more than dirt from the outside? If the hard working stay-at-home mom or dad internalizes the implicit suggestion that he or she is filthy by the means of an objective or very subjective ideological dirt, this coud have the domino-effect of other family members also internalizing the same message. This benefits the upper-class and its ideoloies because not only is the nurturing home environment now grounds for unstable coalitions and potential disagreements, but also housework becomes the symbolic violence of dishonesty and a lack of moral, not to mention laziness. If the stay-at-home mom or dad doesn't have pure morals to being with, how can he or she possibly assimilate into society?

There are also relevant manifest and latent functions and dysfunctions resulting from housework. For example the manifest function of housework is that other people like family members are healthier for living in a cleaner home. Yet the Lex Luther effect mentioned in the previous paragraph suggests that cleanliness is a relative term. Be that as it may the latent function of housework is that the stay-at-home parent cleaning the house might be in better shape for the effort and exercise. In short housework benefits the stay-at-home parent as he or she reaps the rewards of being a busy bee. However a busy bee can be easily distracted from the latent dysfunction of perpetuating the status-quo.

A permeating ideology resulting from housework mimics the corporate community in that everyday errands like chores require subjecting oneself to the boss per say, whether that dynamic include the dyad between married couples,

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