The Second Shift

The Second Shift

Adult nonfiction
Once long ago, in a conversation with a traditional housewife, I
said if I got a job that paid enough I'd think about hiring someone to
come in and clean once a week. She was horrified. Even if she had
worked she would have done her own housework. For the wife not to
would have been dereliction of duty. I imagine if we'd elected Mrs.
Clinton president back in '16 she would have thought her deficient if
she didn't, between stabilizing the economy and preventing war, scrub
"her" toilets and make "her" marital bed.
Most people today aren't as vehement about voicing this
opinion. But still far too many believe that, even in a home where
both spouses work full time, the housework and child care are somehow
"hers." That's why we have the second shift. It's the expectation
that she will get the meal on the table, put the kids to bed, and
somehow find time for the laundry while he recuperates with his hobby
or tv shows.
Things are changing some. People are keeping track of male
contributions in terms of hours or percentages. But there's much more
to roles than percentages. No one magic factor will explain anything
as complicated as marital roles and relations. In the now classic The
Second Shift Arlie Russell Hochschild and Anne Machung attest to the
complexity of the issue.
Hochschild chose the issue when it became relevant in her own
life. She was an assistant professor at UCal Berkeley and nursing her
first baby. She experienced ambivolence: relief that she was seen as
a professional and envy of her male parenting colleagues who had the
home bases covered. Careers in her field were designed for the
traditional male with a partner at home to deal with all the messiness
children created. Other professional women quipped that they needed
wives.
"...But maybe they don't need 'wives,' maybe they need careers
basically designed to suit workers who also care for families. This
redesign would be nothing short of a revolution, first in the home,
and then at places of work--universities, banks, banks, and factories."
Hochschild envisioned America as being in the middle of a
stalled revolution. Women in large numbers had left the home to
participate in the workplace. For the most part neither families nor
jobs had made accomodations. (In fact the media, through ads
featuring an energetic woman with a toddler holding one hand and a
briefcase in the other, had set having it all as the normal.) She
wanted to know why. She also wanted to know how husbands and wives in
two career families experienced and interpreted their situations.
The Second Shift is the result of an extensive ethnographic
study involving in depth interviews and observations. Although it was
written two decades ago, it is sadly too relevant today.
On a purrrsonal note, today is officially bee day. If you get to go
outside say thanks to these powerful pollinators.
I've started to run low on books. But not to worry! I shall continue
to provide content for this blog. I have learned how to get books
shipped by mail from Fogler Library. And I'm working on acquiring
ebooks through the cloud. I mean my mind without reading matter would
be like flowers without pollinating bees. (Jules)
Bees, schmees! When is International Cat Day? That's what I'd like
to know. If you have yet to learn how a feline makes a house a home,
you're in luck. It's kitten season. Your local shelter is full of
fluffy, friendly, fantastic furever friends. You can't buy love but
you can rescue it. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the bees and other pollinators who
are responsible for most of the food we enjoy.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



Sent from my iPod