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Historically, women, men shared provider role
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Published: January 22, 2009
In last week's article, we examined the history of marriage and saw how today's "love- based marriage" hasn't always been as we know it today. Earlier societies saw marriage as an economic strategy set up by parents to preserve the family's status and wealth.
Today, I want to explore the new idea of husbands as the primary breadwinner. This model of marriage was born in the 19th century and had it's heyday in the mid-20th century. Before this time, it was virtually impossible for the average man to make enough money to be a sole provider.
This pattern of married life, where the man goes out to "bring home the bacon" while the wife stays at home as the nurturing homemaker and primary parent was a new invention. It came about as industry developed and salaries increased to the point that couples could afford this luxurious idea. Up until this point in history, both husbands and wives were breadwinners, and even children were expected to generate income for the family needs.
Stephanie Coontz, professor of family studies at Evergreen State College in Washington, states in her book, "Marriage, a History, that until the 1950s, relying on a single breadwinner has been rare. For thousands of years, most women and children had shared the tasks of breadwinner with men. It was not unusual for wives to "bring home the bacon" … or at least raise and slaughter the pig, then take it to the market.
Dr. Coontz goes on to shoot holes in the theory that women have always been dependent on men for food, because men were stronger and could go out to kill game. She cites societies where women's foraging (gathering berries, edible plants, shellfish, and trapping small animals) provided most of the food for the family table. It was not uncommon for the husband to come home from a hunting trip only with stories of the "big one that got away!" Foraging was a sure thing, while hunting was like the stock market, up and down.
Anthropologists located a society in Africa with wives who would walk 12 or more miles a day and bring home 15-30 pounds of food. The same study revealed that nursing mothers were able to gather the same amount, carrying an infant on their side.
Before the invention of weapons capable of killing large game, even hunting was a group activity as men, women and children would encircle wild animals and drive them off a cliff to provide "meat for the table."
There were many advantages to the multiple breadwinner families. Hunting and gathering in older societies shared in their success. There was an interdependency and no one felt the pressure to "produce or die," as many husbands experience in modern society.
We certainly wouldn't want to go back to the wat things were, but it is important to know that marriages, where both spouses work together as co-breadwinners, are not unique to this generation.
Co-breadwinners could be called the "traditional family," if we look at it from a historical perspective.
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