I'd like feedback on my article: Ten Fascinating Qualities of a Housewife

1. 62

   Indelible whisperposted 5 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   This article had passed QAP and had appeared on my slide. I edited a heading in a capsule, and now it's not qualifying. Hubbers, please help.
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my article? What can I do to improve? Thanks!
   Here is my article: Ten Fascinating Qualities of a Housewife (must be signed in to view)

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   1. 88

      Jean Bakulaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      You did mention that this is an Indian wife and expectations of how she will be. It sounds like she is Saintly. This was the image that American wives were supposed to be like if you read magazine articles or saw commercials in the 1950's, but the reality was that women were unhappy in these roles, and bored.
      
      They didn't really vacuum while wearing a dress and high heels with pearls, or always have dinner on the table the minute the husband got home from work. And if she had children to tend to, they had to come first and she had no time for spending on makeup and hair. It was a ridiculous ideal that was not realistic. And if in-laws lived with her, she wasn't going to cater to them, she would expect the mother in law to cook dinner and help clean the house, or help with her grandchildren.
      
      I recently worked on an astrology chart with a very nice, young Indian-American guy who had a plan for his life, even though he was only in his last year of college. He thought that when he got married, he would become the man of the house, but his wife would be happy living with his parents there, caring for all their needs as they got older.. He was ready to work in a job he didn't like because the money was good and it was what his parents wanted him to do.
      
      I told him American women have expectations of living in a place with just their boyfriend or husband.. And that maybe he should consider getting a job in a field he liked. He dates women who don't seem to fit the ideal of who he expects to marry, and I have concerns he is going to hurt someone, because I know he is casual in his feelings and I know what his expectations for "wife material" are.
      
      He even told me the girl he is seeing now is lovely and he seems smitten, but actually told me she isn't "good enough for him." I often continue to work with some clients after I do their charts. So he is looking around, but when he settles down, he thinks a woman will fit into his pre-planned family arrangement and for now is "having fun", but later hopes to find the woman who will be happy living with his parents.
      
      Maybe if he finds an Indian-American wife. An American woman will never go for this arrangement, unless maybe it's a two family house and the in-laws work, have interests, and have assimilated into American life.

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2. 93

   AliciaCposted 5 years ago

   You should go through the article to correct the English errors and some awkward phrases. This is probably the reason why it isn't featured.
   
   Having said that, I don't know how successful your article will be when published on a North American website. I realize that you are praising housewives and want to honor them. Many people on this continent have a different idea about the roles of family members compared to the view in your culture, though.
   
   It might be useful if you emphasized that you've described a situation that's typical in India. I notice that you've done this in a callout, which is good, but perhaps doing it in the introduction would be helpful

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3. 90

   theraggededgeposted 5 years ago

   For goodness sake, drag yourself into the 21st century. This is the kind of article that was published in the 1950s.
   
   Yours: "When he is back at home from work, she first welcomes him. She looks stunning for him. She gives him time to settle and relax. Then she discusses how her day has been, and what issues she has had to face."
   
   https://www.littlethings.com/1950s-good … fe-guide/4
   
   "Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it."
   
   Your article describes an unwaged house slave. Stay-at-home wives and mothers today are very different people to those of 60 years ago.

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4. 90

   theraggededgeposted 5 years ago

   Oh Alicia, you are so much nicer than me
   
   Edit: I loved the bit about it being an honor to do the in-laws housework. These women must be saints.

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5. 84

   FatFreddysCatposted 5 years ago

   Wow.
   Just...wow.
   
   Anything I could add would just be piling on, so I'll let the ladies deal with this one.

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6. 83

   Doneta Wrateposted 5 years ago

   If the housewife is a mother with 3 or 4 kids running around, how is she going to be able to do all that?  No picture of the author so I cannot tell the age, but it sounds like a young unmarried man dreaming who has not yet been able to face realities.  If you have 2 tottlers and a crying baby, the mother is not going to be able to find time to take 15 min to rest and freshen up before he comes home.

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7. 91

   Will Apseposted 5 years ago

   If that article was retitled "An Indian (or possibly Pakistani) Perspective on Women as Housewives, Mothers and Carers" it would be fascinating.
   
   An awareness of other perspectives, would help of course.

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8. 98

   CYong74posted 5 years ago

   To be honest, I'm not sure whether this was intended as praise for housewives, or otherwise. Coupled with the awkward English, it reads like something Borat would write too.

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   1. 97

      SmartAndFunposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      

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9. 86

   Sherry Hewinsposted 5 years ago

   That housewife certainly seems like a handy person to have around. I can't say I really know anybody like that though. That would be hard to live up to.

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   1. 78

      psycheskinnerposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Indeed, where would I get one of these housewives?  Seems like a great deal for everyone else but her!

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10. 91

    Will Apseposted 5 years ago

    The perils of posting in such a Eurocentric setting, lol...
    
    My grandmothers raised 13 kids between them and kept all of them in good health. No mean achievement in the Depression era.
    
    I reckon both my grans would have appreciated a little eulogizing.
    
    A shift in economic or ecological realities and you could all be back in the home and in the front line of the fight against sickness and malnutrition.

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11. 83

    Solarasposted 5 years ago

    Not only is it "like" from the 1950s; it is from the 1950s. In the year of our Lord, 1955, Housekeeping Weekly published The Good Wife Guide.
    
    It seemed familiar to me, as something I had seen on TV with a good wife dressed in a gingham swing skirt, white apron and toothsome grin, pulling a beef wellington from the oven, a congealed salad already waiting at the dinette set.
    
    The male narrator reads these lines with verve, cajoling and scolding the ladies as to perfecting the art  of pleasing one's good husband.
    
    http://mistupid.com/people/goodwife.htm

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12. 83

    Solarasposted 5 years ago

    This point from the Good Wife Guide really got me laughing.  "Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day."
    
    Yeah....out all night... poor guy.

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