Considering the different elements of my research, including various scholarly articles, images and data sets, there appears to be a set of ideals, or at least assumptions about family life. It is clear that throughout history and today, the home is a space that is intrinsically gendered, and the structure of such homes revolves around the role of men and women. The aim of my research was to consider the ways in which these gender roles and gendered divisions, alongside themes of gender, race and class, impact children growing up in these environments and how this is then reinforced and displayed in the public realm.
In searching for notions of the ‘ideal’ childhood, what I found was a common theme; women were seen as the gatekeepers of the domestic realm while men are seen as the provider and breadwinner. Data sets such as the value of house furnishings hinted at the importance that was placed on maing home, and the adverts I have examined are largely, if not exclusively, aimed at women. This allowed me to infer that the home space and the making of home is considered to be the role of the women. In terms of the male role, data sets showing the heads of household illustrate the secondary role women played within the home, further reinforcing the idea of the home as a gendered landscape.
Themes of race and class were examined through literature such as Simmons (2015) Crescent City Girls and images from the American South. These examinations allow for the generating of ideas about the ways in which certain social inequalities impacted the lives of children, displaying crowded living conditions and the separation of neighbourhoods and homes by race. From this I was able to infer that childhood during this period was greatly impacted by social inequalities of the time as the location of home determined the people children encountered and in what setting. Issues of race also link with mobility and the writings of Valentine (1999), who discusses the ability of different genders to navigate public space. In New Orleans, highlighted through the writings of Simmons (2015), young black women had to develop their own ideas of access in their hometown as they attempt to grapple with race, mobility and social inequalities. The material culture of gendered landscapes of the home and its impacts on children is also discussed, through examinations of Ladies Home Journal’s over a 20 year period. The findings of this were that media and advertising serve to reinforce the gender roles we see in the home, shaping the experiences of girls as they grow up around their mother.
Overall, my study revealed that notions of the ‘ideal’ childhood are greatly impacted by the experiences of the home. The gendered landscapes of the home that serve to create a dichotomy between men and women massively impacts the lives of children, as it is in these environments where identities are formed. There is also a strong focus on the likelihood of children’s perceptions of gender being reinforced by peers in the public realm, suggesting that these gendered landscapes of the home were a common feature of childhood in the late 19th and early 20th century.