It is now a radical act to stay at home, so writes Shannon Hayes in her new book, “Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture.” While many women are increasingly engaging in careers and distancing themselves from the titles of “homemakers,” Hayes argues that homemaking does not have to be a four-letter-word, and that, in fact, it is a powerful political and ecological act.
Hayes discusses homemaking through a modern lense- one that has been reworked through the feats of feminism and through a larger consciousness of the environment and consumer culture. Centering your life around the home shouldn’t be equated with shame or service. Instead, a positive and active role in the home-life can improve family health, the state of the environment, and bring about cultural change.
Hayes’s book is greatly needed to combat the amount of literature that paints domesticity in a negative light. The cover of the book is like a bizarro, modern day Rosie the Riveter, in which a woman holding up a rolling pin with her muscled arm is an image of power and strength. Hayes’s book is a message to the public and homemakers alike: drop the shame, it’s time to reclaim!
