>And one more point in this tirade: Barter housing for housework?  
>--How many of YOU live where you work and like it?
>--Housing for Mom does NOT buy housing, food, uniforms, books and school 
>fees 
>for Mom's kids, siblings, parents in (name that random maid's country of 
>origin.)
Sounds like mom'll have to work more than two hours. Those 'uniforms' suggest private school. Barter was mentioned in response to '...how do you avoid the cash nexus?'
I missed the point of your critique. Was it that BE was entertaining rigid gender roles to her disadvantage?
>(But if we're all going to get hung up on rigid gender roles, I am married 
>to 
>a hopeless clean queen. In contradiction to many stereotypes of Russian men, 
>my spouse is way more of a household hurricane than I am. Most of the time I 
>am really grateful, but one downside is I occasionally get to wonder 
>whether he 
>feels exploited!)
I'm a 60+ male and I find it amusing to describe my position as 'homemaker'. When you ask him if he feels exploited what's his reply?