barefoot and pregnant

adjective

Kept at home to perform the traditional duties expected of women.

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Meanings

adjectivebarefoot and pregnant (not comparable)
  1. derogatorynot comparablefeminismKept at home to perform the traditional duties expected of women.

    "The only way to keep a woman happy," he said, "is to keep her barefoot and pregnant."

    1958, Joseph H Peck, All about men
    3 more examples

    Ms. Frank finds it a strange, if not a perverse coincidence that, after all these centuries of Jewish history, just when Jewish women are demanding greater and more meaningful participation in Jewish religious and communal life, certain segments of the Jewish community are loudly hitting the old "barefoot and pregnant motif."

    1994, Steven Bayme, Gladys Rosen, The Jewish family and Jewish continuity

    I was to stay the ol' barefoot and pregnant wife. And I saw no need for that. I found myself in a rut. Get up, fix breakfast, send hubby off to work...

    2007, Edward M Tauber, Jim Smoke, Finding the Right One After Divorce

    "He wanted me barefoot and pregnant," she said. But staying home was driving her crazy.

    2007, Greg J Duncan, Aletha C Huston, Thomas S Weisner, Higher ground: New Hope for the working poor and their children
Cite this entry
APA

barefoot and pregnant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barefoot%20and%20pregnant

MLA

“barefoot and pregnant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barefoot%20and%20pregnant. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barefoot and pregnant,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barefoot%20and%20pregnant.

Source: barefoot and pregnant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.