Masculine Domesticity

Male domesticity emerged as a distinct aspect of male identity, particularly among white middle-class men, when the market revolution of the early nineteenth century began to separate social life into private and public spheres. As income-generating labor was removed from the home, and as the home became redefined as a place of consumption and child-rearing (both associated with women), middle-class articulations of manhood became differentiated into two aspects—domesticity and breadwinning—that were both oppositional and mutually dependent.

The separation of private and public spheres benefited men by creating a “private” domestic space devoid of economic, productive function, which assured men a place seemingly free of financial pressure and yet completely dependent on the support of a male provider. However, men also resisted, and sometimes even resented, this separation, for they perceived domestic life and its affectionate, sentimental characteristics as key components of male identity. After midcentury, middle-class men appear to have largely come to accept this separation, thus putting pressure on themselves to be breadwinners.

But by the early twentieth century, the predictable career paths and increasing leisure time provided by white-collar [Page 293]corporate jobs, combined with the onset of suburbanization, led middle-class men to take a renewed interest in domestic life. Changes in family life and gender roles, such as the rise of an ideal of the “companionate family,” and of men as “companionate providers,” as well as an emphasis on emotional and sexual fulfillment in marriage, involved men in at least some aspects of domestic life. Alongside these developments, home ownership was increasing and floor plans of houses became more open than previously, leading to a merging of male and female spaces and activities in the home. Publications such as Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman (1901–12) urged men to reintegrate domesticity into their definition of masculinity.

While the Great Depression increased pressure on men as wage earners, the New Deal helped ease the demands on men to provide for their families and plan for retirement (particularly through the Social Security Act of 1935), thus enabling them to take a greater interest in parenthood and family life. World War II and its aftermath further encouraged interest in masculine domesticity. During the war, public commentators blamed an increase in juvenile delinquency on the absence of fathers and urged paternal engagement as essential to national social stability. After the war, social scientists lent their support to arguments that the proper psychological and emotional development of children depended upon the domestic presence of men as fathers.

The 1950s witnessed a celebration of masculine domesticity as American men and women, confronted with the possibility of nuclear annihilation, sought security in family life and looked to paternal influence as a source of national strength. Life magazine declared 1954 the year of “the domestication of the American Man,” and television shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett (1952–66), Father Knows Best (1954–63), and Leave It to Beaver (1957–63) showed men as domestic, nurturing beings closely involved in child rearing. At the same time, however, television fathers also spent much less time at home than did the mothers, suggesting the continuing tension between male domesticity and the male breadwinner role. In real life, too, men continued to wrestle with conflicting obligations. For most men domesticity remained difficult to realize. While experts called on fathers to take their place at home, their roles and obligations as providers limited their ability to become active, involved parents.

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