Reviews the genesis & change of housewives in East Asian societies, including Japan, North & South Korea, Taiwan, & China. To recognize the housewife as a historical product is to admit the possibility of her disappearance. Although East Asian societies have often been treated together as a Confucian cultural sphere, the present & future status of women in these societies are remarkably different. In socialist societies, virtually all women are supposed to work in the name of women's liberation, but the status of women is not all the same. In North Korea, patriarchal traditions are so well preserved that household chores are done solely by women, whereas in China, men's participation in housework is quite prevalent. Patriarchy in Taiwan does not particularly emphasize motherhood as the most important female role & working outside the home is often considered one of women's responsibilities; housewives, therefore, are most likely to follow the US pattern of the vanishing housewife. By contrast, both South & North Korean housewives are still largely confined to their homes & transition to the next stage is quite unlikely. In Japan, mothering still remains an essential role for married women, preventing housewives from proceeding to the next stage, although Japan is far more advanced than Taiwan in the economic sense. 10 References. Adapted from the source document.