She Works in the Fields, Yet They Call Her a Housewife, Here’s Why That’s Wrong.

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This is not just about my mother, rather it’s about how we value women’s work everywhere.

“Housewife.”
The world uses this word to describe women who take care of the home, someone who is the backbone of the household. And yes, that role is essential. But what about the women who do both? Who spends their mornings under the burning sun in the fields, and their evening cooking, cleaning, and nurturing a family? What about them?

I grew up watching my mother manage both fieldwork and housework without a single complaint. She never once said, “this isn’t my job,” nor did she question my father about why he expected her to work in the fields when she was already managing the home. She simply did it all consistently, for her people, and with strength that most people fail to notice.

And yet, every time I come across a form that asks for Mother’s Occupation. I pause. Do I write a housewife? Or a farmer? Neither words capture her reality.

Let’s be honest, this world is still deeply male-dominated. Even our language shows it. Look at the jobs around us: chairman, policemen, salesman. The default word carries “man” in it, even when women do the exact same work. (Yes, many of these terms are being replaced with gender-neutral ones like chairperson or police officer, but are still widely used in everyday conversations, newspapers, and even in official records, especially outside big cities in India.). Language shapes perception, and in this case, it keeps reinforcing the idea that men are the standard, while women are the exception.

I want to be clear, I am not criticizing housewives. In fact, I believe they are the backbone of families and, in many ways, society itself. A housewife is not just a housewife. She is the nurturer of her children, the supporter of her husband, the caretaker of her in-laws, and the source of happiness for her parents. Her role is deeply valuable.

But we also need to admit something: the word ‘housewife’ comes with limitations. It places women in a single box, defining them only by what they do inside the home. It erases the labor of women like my mother, who balance the work of both.

Nowadays, society is slowly changing. Educated women in professional roles or high posts are praised and given recognition for their work. Their efforts are visible, and celebrated. But what about women who are less formally educated, working tirelessly in the fields while also managing the household? Their labor is just as real , just as demanding. Yet it often goes unnoticed.

This is not about ability or value; it’s about visibility. Society applauds those whose work fits formal or prestigious categories, while women whose contributions are physical, unpaid, or outside institutional framework remain largely invisible. That gap in recognition is unfair, and it’s exactly what we need to highlight.

Agricultural statistics often ignore women’s labor, listing landowners (mostly men) as “farmers” while their wives, who sow and harvest, are categorized as “housewife”

The bias is not that housewives are disrespected, many families do value them. The bias is that the dual role of women like my mother is erased. She is both the nurturer of her children and the grower of crops. Her hands do not just cook food, they grow it.

For me, this is more than a sociological argument; it’s personal frustration.

We live in a time where people post motivational quotes about women empowerment on social media everyday. But empowerment is not in the hashtags; it’s in recognition. In credit, in naming women for what they are and what they do.

When I think about my mother. I don’t see just a housewife or just a farmer. I see strength, resilience, and love bound together in one woman. I see someone who deserves not just my respect, but society’s recognition.

So the very next time someone asks me what my mother does. I will not hesitate. I will proudly say “she is a farmer. She is a housewife. She is both. And both matter.”

It’s not only my mother. My grandmother too was both a farmer and a housewife. Many women in my town are. And beyond my home. Across India and the world, countless women live in the same dual reality. My mother’s story is personal, but it is not unique. It is the story of millions whose names are rarely written, but whose labor feeds us all.

Women like this don’t just run homes, they run the world we eat from. And it’s high time the world learns to say that out loud.

THANK YOU.