wifery

Last of all is the girl who isn’t often heard from, the happy young woman who is really fulfilled by motherhood and wifery, and who may dip into one or all of the above five options from time to time, but only for fun.

1976, Electa Clark, Leading Ladies: An Affectionate Look at American Women of the Twentieth Century, New York, N.Y.: Stein and Day, →ISBN, page 190

Mary: Maybe I should never have married, never had children—but those possibilities didn’t exist in the world in which I grew up. […] Linda: We were taught that motherhood and wifery are so fulfilling, and then we had to learn to live with the secret guilt when they weren’t fulfilling.

1977, Paula McDonald, Dick McDonald, Guilt-Free, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, page 164

He cannot help observing that she, however dwindled her love for her cuckolded husband, is securely attached to the social role and domestic furniture that come with her wifery.

1986, John Updike, Roger’s Version, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 239

Eventually, if a woman were sufficiently wealthy, her wifery could be constructed on terms in which her husband was not the recipient of her labor.

1997, Miriam B. Peskowitz, Spinning Fantasies: Rabbis, Gender, and History, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 98

‘She should find a good day-care centre and go back to work, even if it’s only part-time. Or do some voluntary work, if she doesn’t need the money. She needs adult company occasionally. And challenges outside of motherhood and wifery.’

2004, Miranda Lee, Bedded by the Boss, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 84