A homemaker and not a housewife

In one of the conference I attended  to cover a feature story some years ago, there was this young well-educated man who took to stage to showcase one of his innovation on kitchen appliance and his hook was the word “Made easy for house wives.”
When he repeatedly hooked the word “house wives”, I thought, he could have used a better choice of words. Since it was unpleasant to my ears.
The two different words implies the same person, yet it has a huge line of difference in addressing.
Then,  there was this wise lady who manages one of the famous women weavers group of the state walked up the dais, all composed and she smilingly said, “let me correct this first.”
“Young man, they are home-makers not house wives, you see!” she said.
The audience cheered and applauded her.
It boosted my notion of how I have always had this corrective thought of how to address any woman who may be your mother or your wife who does or doesn’t work professionally.
Just think ….the salary for a 24 X 7 cook — Rs. 8,000; Housekeeping — Rs. 4,000;Errands — Rs. 1, 000; Kids tutor — Rs. 2,000; Chauffeuring — Rs. 3,000.
You see, she is the house wife; the ‘not working’ woman!
She must be making a neat Rs. 18,000 a month (without the many other services not mentioned here).
Homemaking can be a thankless job — no salary, no perks, no retirement benefits (no retirement!), and, sometimes, no gratitude either.
It’s time homemaking be recognised as a profession — a noble one at that.
That seems a far cry, but till then, let us spare homemakers the ignominy of being described as ‘not working’.
If less, let us change our attitudes towards women and attribute the irreplaceable role she plays in each of our lives.