CV NEWS FEED // Home stewardship, despite what modern society might indicate, is intrinsically valuable and a beautiful vocation, an author argued in a March 24 article published in Harvard’s undergraduate free speech publication.
“At Harvard, a place feverishly obsessed with worldly achievement, the idea of forgoing a full-time job or advanced degree is often dismissed as a waste of one’s precious education,” wrote Laura Bassi in the Harvard Salient. “In other words, home stewardship and motherhood, once pillars of societal respectability, have been unceremoniously bulldozed by the relentless march of the ‘working woman.’”
But women’s roles in homemaking and serving as a caregiver have historically been integral for passing on tradition, faith, values, and local cultures, Bassi wrote.
“A home,” she continued, “is more than a physical space; it is the first school, where children learn who they are and what they stand for. Women, at least those in the home, become the chief architects of this identity.”
Bassi said that the rise of the “working woman” and modern feminism has reinforced the societal belief that success is defined by financial status and executive titles, which contributes to weaker familial bonds as women face pressure to prioritize a career.
“While there is nothing inherently wrong with ambition,” Bassi wrote, “this mindset pressures women into pursuing careers even when doing so might be counterproductive to their well-being — or that of their family.”
Bassi also noted that some media has furthered the “warped portrayal” of stay-at-home mothers as well, from the “trad-wives” of Instagram who appear to treat the life like a “19th-century” cosplay, to influencers who reduce it to an expensive — and materialistic — aesthetic.
“Unrealistic depictions alienate reasonable women from the realities of homemaking while feeding into liberal cultural disdain for the role,” Bassi wrote. “The result is a complete disconnect from what being a stay-at-home wife and mother really means.
“True homemaking is far less theatrical. It is grounded in humility and service to something greater, adapting to the needs of one’s family rather than adhering to some rigid template, outmoded stereotype, or modern caricature.”
Bassi also challenged the societal notion that often undervalues homemaking by equating it with a lack of intelligence. On the contrary, she wrote, the family unit is the “cornerstone of any stable nation.” The vocation of homemaking, she emphasized, strengthens the family.
Further, the vocation of motherhood and home stewardship is an avenue to healthy connections between spouses and encourages stability for families, Bassi argued.
Homemaking “is a vocation that fosters intimacy, stability, and interpersonal connectedness within the home, providing a foundation for healthy child development and mutual support between spouses,” she wrote.
Bassi acknowledged that while everyone should answer their own unique calling, society should not undermine the vocation of motherhood and home stewardship.
“Indeed, perhaps one of the greatest things a Harvard graduate could do,” Bassi wrote, “is build a home in a world obsessed with tearing them apart.”
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