Dictionary

barefoot and pregnant en · ADJ

Meanings

1. (derogatory, not-comparable, of women) Kept at home to perform the traditional duties expected of women.
   • "He wanted me barefoot and pregnant," she said. But staying home was driving her crazy. 2007, Greg J Duncan, Aletha C Huston, Thomas S Weisner, Higher ground: New Hope for the working poor and their children:
   • "The only way to keep a woman happy," he said, "is to keep her barefoot and pregnant." 1958, Joseph H Peck, All about men:
   • Ms. Frank finds it a strange, if not a perverse coincidence that, after all these centuries of Jewish history, just when Jewish women are demanding greater and more meaningful participation in Jewish religious and communal life, certain segments of the Jewish community are loudly hitting the old "barefoot and pregnant motif." 1994, Steven Bayme, Gladys Rosen, The Jewish family and Jewish continuity:
   • I was to stay the ol' barefoot and pregnant wife. And I saw no need for that. I found myself in a rut. Get up, fix breakfast, send hubby off to work... 2007, Edward M Tauber, Jim Smoke, Finding the Right One After Divorce: