“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.

“We note that this is taking a toll on many relationships, particularly in the IT sector. Marriage is not proving to be a win-win proposition for career women. Since such women see marriage as an impediment to their career prospects, they choose to skip it altogether. The number of unmarried women is on the rise. The situation can probably be remedied if husbands would opt to be home makers,” the judges said.

“Until a while ago, women would happily introduce themselves as housewives. These days, they put on an embarrassed look and say, ‘just a housewife’, even though there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Housewives are not ‘little women’ (to borrow the famous title of the book by Louisa May Alcott. She famously said, ‘I would rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe’),” the court said.

The bench was hearing civil miscellaneous appeals filed by a doctor couple. The court said both had agreed that the marriage can be dissolved by a decree of divorce by mutual consent. It said the relationship between the parties had broken down beyond repair. “The marriage that was solemnised between the parties is dissolved by a decree of divorce by mutual consent. The decree of divorce will come into force only upon the fulfilment of the financial obligations undertaken by the man before us,” the court said.