The return of the housewife

Why women are still cleaning up

By: Emma Casey

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Hardcover | 8 April 2025

At a Glance

Hardcover
222 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.7

Hardcover

RRP $66.48

$55.90

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An illuminating look at the world of cleanfluencers that asks why the burden of housework still falls on women.

Housework is good for you. Housework sparks joy. Housework is beautiful. Housework is glamorous. Housework is key to a happy family. Housework shows that you care. Housework is women's work.

Social media is flooded with images of the perfect housewife. TikTok and Instagram 'cleanfluencers' produce endless photos and videos of women cleaning, tidying and putting things right. Figures such as Marie Kondo and Mrs Hinch have placed housework, with its promise of a life of love and contentment, at the centre of self-care and positive thinking.

And yet housework remains one of the world's most unequal institutions. Women, especially poorer women and women of colour, do most low-paid and unpaid domestic labour. In The return of the housewife, Emma Casey asks why these inequalities matter and why they persist after a century of dramatic advances in women's rights. She offers a powerful call to challenge the prevailing myths around housework and the 'naturally competent' woman homemaker.

Industry Reviews

'Emma Casey's important book dissects the "cleanfluencer" -- a form of female digital celebrity that unifies the romanticization of domesticity, the supercharging of self-promotion and the circulation of mental health and wellness mandates in response to austerity conditioning, Contributing equally to feminist sociology and feminist media studies, this is a compelling and timely account.'
Diane Negra, Professor of Film Studies and Screen Culture, University College Dublin

'Drawing on decades of sociological and feminist thinking, Emma Casey offers us an entertaining and coruscating analysis of the re-glamourisation of housework in the digital age. This highly readable book will be invaluable for students; its scholarly polemic will help reignite debates on domestic inequalities; and its fluid prose will be of interest to anyone who has ever cleaned -- or avoided cleaning -- a kitchen sink.'
Jo Littler, Professor, Goldsmiths, University of London

'Those of you who have spent hours at the kitchen sink will know exactly what Casey is talking about and will find her book a fascinating read.'
Sylvia Hikins, Morning Star

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