Invisible face of female labour: Household labour

There is a vast literature focusing on different dimensions of the issues related to gender. In the past the unequal status of women in social structure was viewed as a inevitable result of their sex (biological determinism), but later on, especially starting with the feminist theories, it was linked to social, political, economic and cultural factors (gender). However, as known well, departing from gender perspective feminist theories are already separated into different camps. The discussions on gender-related issues have relatively recently been included the gender division of labour within the household. Female labour is mainly tackled as a form of unpaid labour. It should be added on the agenda that there are some other aspects of female labour within the household. In this context, this study aims at contributing the literature on the female labour within the household. First from a historical perspective the theories handling the status of women are summarized in general and then the perspective of this study is revealed among them. Next the structure of families/households are examined during historical process. Last the research findings gathered in a fieldwork carried out in Kepez district in Antalya are presented. The fieldwork focuses on the female labour within the workng class families/households. During the fieldwork 10 women/housewife are interviewed with face to face to get a deep understanding of the fact by using semi-structured questionnaire. The findings show that the housewifes are under pressure of dominant socio-economic structure and patriarchal social environment. Keywords: Gender, Female Labour, Household Labour.