If there can be housewives, there can be house husbands also; let this become a new normal: HC judges

“If there can be housewives, there can be house husbands also. Let this become a new normal. We are of the view that this would help preserve the institution of marriage and family. The expression ‘home maker’ is gender-neutral,” the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has said.

A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M.D. Sumathi said, “Unlike modern western societies, in Bharatiya culture, it is the family and not the individual that is the foundational unit.”

Traditionally, the responsibility of raising financial resources rested on the husband, the wife took care of the domestic front. Both roles are entitled to equal respect. This position has been changing over the last half a century. Women are also increasingly becoming career oriented, the court said.