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# Women, housework & the 21st century
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/women-housework-the-21st-century/
- Published: 2004-07-09T21:15:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-08T03:48:55.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: gender & sexism, women, work, #Migrated-1775015344493, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-04-01 14:49

It is astonishing that many women in the west still seem to be obsessed with housework and cleaning in spite of the advances women have made in the past 100 years.

A recent series of visits to various online women's groups (that are ostensibly about something else) showed a focus, in an almost unhealthy way, upon housework. Many of the women in these groups express sincere distress at not feeling able to cope with housework or to perform it to a level they see as '*normal*'.

There is something wrong here. There are bigger things in the world than worrying if your lounge room or kitchen are clean.

What's the real story?

Is this a form of internalized oppression?