Polished Floor: Female Identity and Resistance Strategies. Autoethnography

The article presents the process of constructing female identity with the reference to the traditional model of womanhood. The arguments presented refer to the changes in the division of housework. According to the stereotypical model of a womanhood, the ‘polished floor’ that appears in the title is described as one of the effects of a diligent fulfillment of the obligations assigned to women. The autoethnographic narrative that demonstrates personal experience of the author accompanies the conducted analyses. The article presents an analysis of a popular Facebook fan page ‘Sh* Housewife’, which constitutes an embodiment of the women’s resistance strategy against the housework being treated as a ‘natural’ calling and obligation of a woman. The final conclusions clearly indicate that the social and cultural changes that have led to the equality of women and men have not altered the convictions and models of performing housework.