I see these creatures have recently been deemed 'problematic' and JKR is accused of 'promoting slavery', amid other nonsense.

Despite being British, I wasn't aware of the folklore of these creatures cleaning homes and being too proud to accept payment. Instead, I always assumed they were an allegory for stay-at-home mothers.

Many people look down on SAHM, calling them lazy, unambitious and so on. Sometimes they're accused of wasting opportunities - "Feminists didn't fight for freedom so you could carry on being helpless and dependent upon a man". People make comments like "You must get bored at home all day" and "Don't you want to earn some money too?". You've probably heard about it.

Of course a lot of them are fed up with such social pressure. They say they want to be at home, enjoy looking after kids, and would prefer not to be out working, even if it's the norm and would make life easier. (I don't understand it, but respect it)

Since I was 10 and reading HP for the first time, the house elves always reminded me of that. Activists like Hermione just cannot believe that they're happy in their lifestyle, and try to coax and forcibly drag them out of it. They must be freed!

Did anyone else have similar thoughts, before finding out about the folklore and what these creatures were really based on?