Man has only a middling interest in his domestic interior because he has access to the entire universe and because he can affirm himself in his projects. Woman, instead, is locked into the conjugal community: she has to change this prison into a kingdom.[1]
[E]very human being should have a home. The single person his or her own home; and the family their home. […] The home should offer to the individual rest, peace, quiet, comfort, health and that degree of personal expression requisite; and those condition should be maintained by the best methods of the time.[2]
A home provides not only shelter and food but also a place from which, in which, one claims an identity. The house, or a room, or a corner becomes an extension of one’s body. A human organism interacts with the building, the objects it contains, and its setting. In an ideal home, every inhabitant beyond infancy has some control over doors – those physical objects and psychic symbols that close out the world, let others in, and allow ingress or egress for the individual controlling the door. There is a place to store one’s belongings and cherished objects. There are people to respond to an individual’s needs and who will make claims on that individual to respond to theirs. The home is created and maintained to promote the growth of all its members. It is a place of some stability and, for better or worse, it is a place where members can be found by the world and where they will be missed if they wander off.[3]
Is home where the heart is or is not? Is home just good for men or for us too? What did we say about home in the past (the old and the new past)? Should we run or should we stay? What is best for us and best for all?