This is a basic Jewish prayer; observant (usually orthodox) Jewish men recite this prayer each morning along with a number of other daily morning prayers. There is no female equivalent prayer in Judaism.

I know. I first learned this in high school (Akiba Hebrew Academy). Whenever I asked about it, the answer was that men are showing respect by acknowledging the greater amount of work and sacrifice that women make.

This is a great answer and shows how if you give a culture of great and wise male scholars a few thousand years, they can eventually come up with an something that will appease their pissed off wives and mothers.

But seriously, in Judaism it is acknowledged that the mother is the person who is the source of Judaism in the home, since many of the laws of Kashrut (Kosher) and many of the other 600 or so commands fall under 'housekeeping'. This is one of the reasons given for Judaism being determined by the faith of the mother, another one being historical and relating to intermarriage during the time of (I'm guessing Alexander the Great).

A rather backhanded compliment.

Put in my mind an old saying about Texas, I think I read it on a panel at the Alamo- "heaven for men and dogs, hell for women and oxen".