Household Humor

With or without humor, the feminist movement should concentrate on a vigorous campaign against the use of the words husband and wife (“The Meaning of Wife,” by Jack Smith, Sept. 14). The word husband comes from the Old English word husbonda , which means “master of the house.” Another example of male chauvinism is the Old English word wifmann , which meant “woman.” In those days of grammatical genders, wifmann was not a feminine but a neuter gender. Wifmann later gave birth to the words woman and wife , and later housewife . As feminists argue, the latter is only a euphemism for a household drudge.

Naim Siddiqui

Yorba Linda