On Marriage and Slavery

Wife and servant are the same,
But only differ in the name.
_ Lady Mary Chudleigh

It's true. And it is amazing that when it comes to this fact, wives of today are no different than those of the Middle Ages. By signing a marriage contract, a woman is signing her bond of slavery. Although the terms are not written, yet every woman knows them and works on fulfilling them. The title Mrs. Nobody doesn't come for free. A wife throws away her human rights at the doorstep of her husband's home. She then becomes a lifelong servant, offering her services for free. She will cook, clean, do the laundry, wash the dishes, make the bed, sweep the floor, prepare dinner for his guests, sews his buttons, iron his shirts, sends his suits to the dry clean, arranges his messy side of the closet, buys him underwear, … an endless list.

This does not imply that the husband has no role to play at home. Who eats what she cooks? Who leaves the dirty dishes on the table to fly to the kitchen sink? Who throws his dirty clothes all over the room? Who eats snacks in front of TV and leaves the bits for insects (he doesn't forget to feed them, poor creatures)? Who turns every place he uses for 5 minutes into a mess which needs a day to clean? Who stains the carpets? Who keeps demanding beverages while sitting on the couch? Come on.. he doesn't stop doing things all day. And wait.. it doesn't stop here. Of course we won't forget his favorite hobby.. criticism! "This meat is too hard, where did you get it from?" "The rice isn't well cooked!" "Where are my brown socks?" "Is the white shirt still in the laundry?" "What took you so long? I'm starving." "You've gained weight." "Why don't you take care of yourself as you used to before marriage?" Bla bla bla bla..

Doesn't matter what career a woman has. She can be a doctor, engineer, scientist, whatever.. but she has to be a good housekeeper before all that. Her career, no matter how prestigious, no matter how successful she is at it, will always be secondary.. not only to her husband, but to the patriarchal society he represents. If she is not a good servant, she is not a good wife. Her job is seen as leisure, a thing to pass the time when her husband is out at work, a bless she should thank her husband for approving of. Cause marriage also entitles the ownership of the wife by her master. He can give her the gift of having a job and he can take it away if he thinks that he's not getting the quality of service he desires. He therefore never encourages his wife to take her work seriously (if she happens to work). The rules for this leisure are set from the beginning: she can't stay late at work (preferably arrive home before him), she must take the kids to school in the morning (doesn't matter of she arroves late at work everyday), she isn't allowed to travel, she must return home full of energy to go on with her chores, she can't attend training in the afternoon, she can't take work with her to complete at home… etc. How can any person succeed with all those limitations?

There is no way better to end this post than this: "Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she's a householder." _ Thornton Wilder