Page 119 [119]
OCR
GENDER HISTORY RETROSPECTIVE IN HUNGARY AFTER 1949 also been stated that a number of similar experiences presented themselves with regards to the subordinated social role of women in the narratives of both generations.??5 Finally, as we have seen above, the socialist family model of "two earners — one family income" was rather "one male earner — one female earner moonlighting as an unpaid housekeeper — one family income” in reality.** It is true that the Family Act of 1952 made divorces easier, due to women as well as men being allowed to initiate the process. This however only put more strain onto single mothers. My husband did not support me that much. I left him after 12 years of marriage, raised two children alone, both were going to primary school back then. But the fact has not meant any leeway in my professional field. So it was very tough. I have a son and a daughter. My daughter used to say “if someone asks who the man in the family is, I usually say it is mostly my mom”. (Subject no. 27, social sciences) To summarise, we can state that the most significant failing that women’s policies of the state socialist era had was to draw women into the labour market en masse, while not reconstructing the male-female relation with regards to domestic roles.**’ It is likely that, compared to lower social classes, traditional male-female roles were — and are — present to a lesser extent in the case of white-collar families and an intellectual/scientist husband (homogamy). Moreover, studies related to the topic — e.g. as highlighted by Brines, 1994 — have showed that men take care of even less housekeeping in the families of physical workers, or where the man is financially dependent on his spouse, because in these cases the man intends to stress his “manliness” and the male social role by strongly resisting the household duties.***In any case, it is apparent that women could mostly achieve success in their scientific career if they received support from their families, division of household tasks, and equality in some form. We had a surrogate grandmother, so we didn’t need to carry the children everywhere. So let me say again that I had no problems originating from this, at least not to my knowledge. And I think I can consider myself incredibly lucky from this point of view, because my husband [...] was a father of whom there are very few. I need to add that I never got up for our babies, it was always him who jumped out of bed and picked 335 Cf. Neményi-Kende: Anyäk és länyok, 138. Zimmermann: A tarsadalmi-nemi (gender-) rezsim, 69, 71, 78. Acsädy: Megtettük-e azt..., 194. Brines quoted by Neményi, M. — Takacs, J.: Csaladfenntart6 anyak munka-maganelet harmonizációs kísérletei Magyarországon, in Nagy, B. — Géring, Zs. — Király, G. (eds.): Dilemmak és stratégiák a család és munka összehangolásában, Budapest, LHarmattan, 2018, 358. 336 33 S 33: æ + 117 +
