Ben Apfelbaum

JESSICA ROWE : DIARY OF A CRAP HOUSEWIFE

Even in today’s advertising and media worlds the housewife mother (and occasionally father) is perfectly groomed, unflappable in a clean, gleaming kitchen with perfectly behaved children.  Like young women who feel inadequate when viewing airbrushed glamazons many mothers feel guilty when the kitchen is in a mess, and the lounge and bedrooms are in disarray, despite the fact that feminists were declaring that the sign of a tidy house is a sign of a wasted mind.

Jessica Rowe’s book confounds the advertising and media norms and proudly admits that she is a crap housewife wearing the appellation as a badge of honour. Like many anti self help books such as How Not To Give A F-K,

Jessica Rowe seeks to unburden the demands of many mothers, calls for them to luxuriate in their untidiness, relax and enjoy the most important thing in the household, in her case a loving husband and her gorgeous children  without the stress of an unkempt house looming over their lives when they return from work or school. However Jessica Rowe may not need a call to arms from less than diligent mothers or fathers as there is a growing trend of having gourmet foods and nutritious, delicious dinners delivered by such companies as Uber and Deliveroo.

Rowe many also not need to call out to the younger generation as many rent flats or apartments without any kitchen.

Rowe is an esteemed journalist, television presenter, orator and author. Rowe has written three best selling non fiction books The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, co-authored with Penelope Rowe, Love, Wisdom, Motherhood and her memoir, Is This My Beautiful Life.

Waving the banner for the crap housewife cause, Rowe has gathered loyal and joyous following on her www.craphousewife.com, Facebook and Instagram. Jessica is also an Ambassador for Beyond Blue and a patron of Mental Health Australia. In 2015 she was awarded Member of the Order of Australia both for her advocacy work and contribution to Australian media.

When the photo illustrating this article was taken Jessica Rowe was just about to address a packed audience at Woollahra Library.

Although the title and some of the contents are made in jest this book is consistent with her concerns for the mental well being, not just of mothers, but of all Australians.

Pics by Ben Apfelbaum

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.