Written by Tiffany Tsao, and was originally published in Literary Hub. May 05, 2026
I have never read anything written by Pearl S. Buck. But a few years ago, I came across something she once said that I have been unable to forget.
In a 1958 interview on the American TV show The Mike Wallace Interview, the eponymous Wallace (pausing every now and then to plug Parliament-brand cigarettes) interrogates Buck about her views on women and the home:
Wallace: Earlier this week you told our reporter this. You said: “Most women are making their homes their graves.” What did you mean by that?
Buck: Well, I suppose I meant that they bury themselves there when they don’t need to. Of course I believe in home you know.
Wallace tries to wrap his head around what Buck means: “I find it difficult to understand how you can say that most women make their homes their graves.” Buck replies, “Well, I think because they stop reading, or reading books that would enlarge their minds, the minds of their family, for example.” She later observes that a woman with young children may have to put off pursuing a career if she wants one, but “those years need not be what I might call ‘grave years.’ I mean, bury herself—” (Here Wallace cuts her off to make an observation of his own.)
I do not remember exactly how I stumbled upon this interview. I do remember it was late at night and I was sitting on the carpet in the dark with my laptop propped on the sofa—a favorite internet-browsing position of mine—thinking I should try to go to bed earlier so I could stop being exhausted all the time. I do remember I was exhausted all the time because I had young children, like the women Buck exhorts not to make their homes their graves. I do remember reflecting on her words, because, despite my exhaustion, I was in a position to reflect.
Read the full article here.
I have never read anything written by Pearl S. Buck. But a few years ago, I came across something she once said that I have been unable to forget.
In a 1958 interview on the American TV show The Mike Wallace Interview, the eponymous Wallace (pausing every now and then to plug Parliament-brand cigarettes) interrogates Buck about her views on women and the home:
Wallace: Earlier this week you told our reporter this. You said: “Most women are making their homes their graves.” What did you mean by that?
Buck: Well, I suppose I meant that they bury themselves there when they don’t need to. Of course I believe in home you know.
Wallace tries to wrap his head around what Buck means: “I find it difficult to understand how you can say that most women make their homes their graves.” Buck replies, “Well, I think because they stop reading, or reading books that would enlarge their minds, the minds of their family, for example.” She later observes that a woman with young children may have to put off pursuing a career if she wants one, but “those years need not be what I might call ‘grave years.’ I mean, bury herself—” (Here Wallace cuts her off to make an observation of his own.)
I do not remember exactly how I stumbled upon this interview. I do remember it was late at night and I was sitting on the carpet in the dark with my laptop propped on the sofa—a favorite internet-browsing position of mine—thinking I should try to go to bed earlier so I could stop being exhausted all the time. I do remember I was exhausted all the time because I had young children, like the women Buck exhorts not to make their homes their graves. I do remember reflecting on her words, because, despite my exhaustion, I was in a position to reflect.
Read the full article here.
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