The Housewife and Working Mother are rather unconventional archetypes because they do not qualify for cosmic status; they are social archetypes opposed to cosmic archetypes. Both archetypes are aspects of the Mother archetype.
The Housewife—a wife to the house—is an action-based woman who is a caretaker of an entire family. In contemporary society the Housewife archetype is being given a “temporary” archetypal status because women are going through a time of being uncomfortable with the Housewife archetypal status. This is really unfortunate because one of the hardest jobs in the world is to make sure other people turn out okay, to make sure they are fed healthy food and to ensure that their spirits get uplifted in prayer and go to bed in prayer. This is hard work and this is the essence of the Housewife archetype.
The Working Mother is another action-based Mother. Although Mothers have always worked, the contemporary archetype of the Career or Working Mother reflects the crises experienced by many women who also seek to be devoted Mothers. Measured against the impossible mythic ideal of the perfect Mother, the career Mom is sometimes
assumed unfairly to be a Mother who puts her own needs before those of the children. This is an archetypal crisis for many women. The shadow Working Mother is the Mother who does not come home, the negligent Mother.
The Housewife—a wife to the house—is an action-based woman who is a caretaker of an entire family. In contemporary society the Housewife archetype is being given a “temporary” archetypal status because women are going through a time of being uncomfortable with the Housewife archetypal status. This is really unfortunate because one of the hardest jobs in the world is to make sure other people turn out okay, to make sure they are fed healthy food and to ensure that their spirits get uplifted in prayer and go to bed in prayer. This is hard work and this is the essence of the Housewife archetype.
The Working Mother is another action-based Mother. Although Mothers have always worked, the contemporary archetype of the Career or Working Mother reflects the crises experienced by many women who also seek to be devoted Mothers. Measured against the impossible mythic ideal of the perfect Mother, the career Mom is sometimes
assumed unfairly to be a Mother who puts her own needs before those of the children. This is an archetypal crisis for many women. The shadow Working Mother is the Mother who does not come home, the negligent Mother.