ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how feminist critiques of domestic consumption that deal with the figure of the housewife, and the tasks of housework, also frequently cohere around a rejection of the commercialisation of domestic space. It also examines some key ways in which second-wave feminism was predicated on an escape from domesticity. The chapter explores recent work on everyday life that highlights how narratives of becoming a feminist were frequently structured around the idea of 'leaving home'. It examines how the opposition between 'the feminist' and 'the housewife' structured second-wave feminism to explain why domesticity was constructed as 'other' to feminism. The chapter discusses how consumption was also othered within second-wave feminism, assessing how these factors have impacted on feminist approaches to consumption and, more crucially, how domestic consumption has been marginalised. It focuses on cooking as one aspect of domestic labour and consumption. Friedan argues that the commercialisation of domestic life 'imposes a new drudgery'.
