Reply #21: your references show that husband and wife are neutral

[muriel_volestrangler]

and not at all oppressive - since "husband" ultimately means "house dweller", and "wife" means "woman". The only person a midwife may be a servant to is the expectant mother (the mid means "with", so does it mean "someone with a woman", or "a woman with someone"?), and fishwives are women who prepare or sell fish - straightforward. With the same derivation, I don't think you can claim "housewife" as a servant either, without some definite proof (eg a quote like "shes is a housewife becauase she is his servant") - it can just as easily be "woman in charge of a house".

All you are doing with these two words is associating them with later social conditions.

Where does your quote about ancient Rome and famulus come from? I think to say that a man had power of life and death over his wife and children is exaggeration (and servants too, I should think; slaves sounds slightly more likely, but I don't think he could kill them on a whim).

Since the social conditions are the important thing, you're better off working to change them rather than worrying about what words meant, and connotations they had, a few hundred years ago.