Talk:a woman's work is never done

RFV discussion: July 2019

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a woman's work is never done

Good housekeeping, a woman’s work

"Women generally work longer and harder than their male counterparts but often do not receive the same level of gratitude for it." This gender-wars interpretation is not how I understood the phrase (especially because you can commonly find the male version too, e.g. "When it comes to the outside of the house, a man's work is never done"). I thought it just meant "women tend to have a lot of work to do". Equinox ◑ 22:10, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

It is a short form of the couplet: "A man he works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done." It dates back to the days when men worked to earn money and women did housework, and refers to the fact that housework is never-ending. It's use nowadays would be, as Equinox suggests, "women have a lot of work to do." Kiwima (talk) 22:48, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

I agree that the level of gratitude received is not an aspect of the meaning of the phrase. It basically means that housekeeping (under the traditional gender roles considered women’s work) consists of a never-ending parade of chores (housecleaning, doing the laundry, making the beds, buying and preparing food, sewing & darning, etcetera) that does not end at sundown.  --Lambiam 13:25, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Attested. Quotations from 3 centuries have now been added to the entry. I think that, in usage there usually is a connotation that women's work is underappreciated. -- · (talk) 02:49, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 21:59, 15 July 2019 (UTC)