Hochschild's Second Shifts

In this satirical article, Brady expresses the difference between the roles of women and men in the 1970’s by stating men’s point of view on women and women’s roles in society. Throughout her article, Brady emphasizes the roles of women. For example, women could now “work and...takes care of the children when they are sick”. Comparing the 1880’s to the 1970’s, there has been a big improvement. Many women had jobs outside their home, but still were responsible for most housework and childcare while their husband’s only responsibility in a marriage was to go to work and earn money to support the family. Society’s expectations allowed women to work outside the home to support college education for husbands; however,women had to know how to balance their time between their children and their jobs, making sure that their husbands “cannot miss classes at school.” During the 1970’s, women were still oppressed in many ways and had to follow society's expectations in order to live up to the men’s view of women’s roles in society. Even though society’s expectations of women had improved since The Awakening, most of women’s roles had stayed the same. In the article, Brady specifies how once a husband is “through with school and has a job, [he expects the] wife to quit working and remain at home so that [she] can more fully and completely take

In, “Halving the Double Day” by Dorothy Sue Cobble, she realizes that women get the bitter end of having a poor socio-economic status. Women are more burdened than men with balancing activities. Cobble states, “But none feel the pressure more than those juggling full-time employment with what can seem like a second shift at home” (Cobble, 1). Cobble believes that women, especially in lower income households face more stress and have less time to do things they want in life because they are burdened with finding and working in jobs as well as balancing house hold duties. Unlike men, who’s primary role in the household is to go out and work, women now who are in lower income families have to take on both roles assisting in income and doing house work. Furthermore, Cobble emphasizes that only those who are rich can benefit from the vast benefits that outsiders see in living in America. Cobble states, “Similarly the highly touted family-friendly workplace-the coveted market nook with flexible work schedules, job sharing, child care assistance, and comprehensive health and welfare coverage-is not yet a reality for the majority of salaried workers, let alone hourly workers”

Nancy received her bachelor’s degree and is now working full time as a social worker, Evan is a full time furniture sales man. Hochschild argues that “most women work one shift at their office or factory and a “second shift” at home” (Hochschild 4). This is supported with what the Holt couple does when they return home from work, Nancy cooks, does housework, and cares for Joey, while Evan usually goes to the basement and works on his hobby. This is not uncommon for women to experience this “second shift” the gender system that is commonly practiced among American families is domesticity. “The ideology of domesticity held that men “naturally” belong in the market because they are competitive and aggressive; women belong in the home because of their “natural” focus on relationships, children, and an ethic of care” (Williams 1). This also relates to the gender norms placed on men and women. This leads to turmoil in the relationship causing both the man and woman

In the article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” Anne-Marie Slaughter explains why women can’t manage both the difficulties of a high-end job while doing the best they can as a parent. Slaughter is a very successful women who had worked for Hillary Clinton at the state department being the first woman policy planner. She begins the essay by explaining a conversation that came up between herself and a colleague who held a senior position in the White House. She tells her colleague that is has been very difficult for her to be away from her son at work, when he needs her at home. At this point Slaughter comes up with the idea to write an article about these struggles she and many women are dealing with. Throughout this meeting Slaughter

The modern day woman works outside of the home, but then returns and continues to take care of housework and the children. Sociologists refer to this part of the woman’s day as the, “Second shift.” Two studies conducted found that if a man is more economically dependent on his wife, he is less likely to do housework. However, no evidence suggests that becoming economically independent makes marriage any less desirable for a woman. The family is the initial agent of socialization in their child’s life, however, even though the mother of the family may have the job with longer hours and better pay, the parents will still reinforce traditional gender roles in their household (Thompson 301-302.) This behavior can cause a child to embrace the stereotype that the woman’s only role is to cook, clean, and take care of the children. Even if a woman is the primary

For example, in Ann-Marie Slaughter’s essay “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” she arguably wrote that while she held office all she could think about were her sons. While she was regularly commuting between Washington and New Jersey many female politicians at her side and feminists at her side were horrified by the fact that she would give up the high-power position she was in for her “family.” This has even made some women say “I’ve never had to compromise, and my kids turned out great” (678). Although there is a shift in perspective of women being able to hold high-power positions it has caused this expectation that women should only focus on their career and disregard their home life. During this essay, Slaughter speaks about how women can have it all and then some with their careers and home lives, it would be absurd to want to spend more time at home with such a high-ranking career. Although, it is simply not true. Slaughter insists that you cannot enjoy a home life along with such a career. She states that if she was not sleeping or in a meeting she was writing reports, commenting on drafts, etc.

A woman has many decisions and sacrifices to make when balancing work and family. Ann-Marie Slaughter is the author of “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” where she explains what it is like to hold a higher ranking position and have children at home. She begins by building her credibility with personal facts and sources, citing other women in younger and older generations. Slaughter fills her essay with high emotion to empower women to be able to have a higher profession without giving up the time with the ones you love. She describes what it is like to lead her business life, and struggle to guide her children, when she doesn’t even have time for herself.

There is data to support the idea of a mother taking time off or a woman reducing her working hours to part-time will hurt her significantly in the career world. The reason for this sudden break in a woman’s career being motherhood. The most popular reason for working less hours is in a law firm is for a mother to take care of her child. Taking this additional time off decreases the chances of the mother receiving a partnership immensely. When doing this, the mother also risks the idea of herself being seen as “not serious about her career”, permanently damaging her chances of promotion at the private practice. However, mothers are no less likely than childless women to receive a

In Judith Stadtman Tuckers “The Least Worst Choice: Why Mothers Opt out of the Work Place” Judith Stadtman Tucker looks at why hard working, intelligent woman are choosing to leave their high end jobs to stay at home with their children. Judith Stadtman Tucker expresses her option that it is nearly impossible to work 40 hours a week, be available on your off hours as well as raise children. I fully agree with Judith Stadtman Tucker’s point of view that it is absurd to have to be at the mercy of your employer even in your off hours, nor less if you are attempting to create an emotional connection and successfully raise a child. It is no question that even in today’s modern society that it is assumed that woman are the best caregivers for young children. If you are put in a position where you have a child to raise, is it more appropriate to abandon your career or to emotionally abandon your child to a stranger or strangers and allow them to raise it? Judith Stadtman Tuckers argument against mothers having to choose between the joys of parenthood and the freedom of being able to work a career really speaks to me because it makes me consider what I want for my own future and what I would choose.

Americans that work too many long shifts affect the lives of the people around them too. For instance, one statistic from a Family Matters Survey done by The National Partnership for Women & Families in 1998 found that, “70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children”.Another statistic from this survey reported that over 80% of Americans found it diffcult to balance their work life and their personal life. In fact, it is estimated that around 11 million children age 5 and under spend time in a form child care facility every week(Child Care Aware of America). It is also estimated that children whose

When husbands went off to work, they helped create the view that men alone should support the family. This belief held that the world of work, the public sphere, was a rough world, where a man did what he had to in order to succeed, that it was full of temptations, violence, and trouble. A woman who ventured out into such a world could easily fall prey to it, for women were weak and delicate creatures. A woman's place was therefore in the private sphere, in the home, where she took charge of all that went on. (Lavender)

This reading greatly ties into our discussion on the politics of housework between parents. During the early years of being married, some couples do not feel the burden of caring for a family because they chose not to have children at that point in time. As Alix Shulman describes in her passage, she and her husband were very content during that time, often shopping, cooking, and spending long walks together on the weekends in Central Park. They wouldn’t need to worry about cleaning too often because their apartment was modest and not too large for a family of two. She notes that during that period of their life, their domestic was beautifully uncomplicated. Suddenly down the road, a couple years later, the couple found themselves distressed when they had their son and daughter. Life became more complicated and at times, “impossible” according to Alix. The reason was that both Alix and her husband automatically accepted the traditional sex roles set in place by society. Alix left her job and became a stay-at-home mom, while her husband was working all day in the office. Alix was used to interacting with people during the day and having a life outside the office as well as the home, but now she was confined to the company of her children, who were preschoolers at the time. Alix was upset because she felt as though her husband’s life changed little when the children were born while her life became 1000x more complicated. She was working more than a 9-5 day job, and she didn’t get compensated for the work either. Preparing six meals a day for different people, spending several hours cleaning a mess that would remain unclean within the next couple hours, due to her children playing, and laundry that was originally done a couple times a month, now is due on a daily basis. Alix never got a break. She once enjoyed reading, but now she can’t even have a private mental life without the constant

Another cause for the wage gap is the fact that women leave the workforce or cut down their hours to take care of their family and household responsibilities. In The Second Shift, the Holt family is introduced. Nancy Holt a social worker with a masters degree reduces her full time job to part time in order to better accommodate all her household responsibilities which include raising her son, cooking, and cleaning. She even goes on to say, “I figure when I’m at office from eight to one, and when I come home and take care of Joey and make dinner at five,” regarding her new part-time schedule (Hochschild 49). The idea that women need to take pay cuts or lower paying part-time jobs strikes a deeper societal chord. It conveys that women have the

“The Second Shift” by Arlie Russell Hochschild sheds light on the fact that America is stuck in a perpetual loop, unable to change its societal gender expectations. Substantial progress has been made when it comes to women in the workplace, but that same progress is lacking when it comes to a woman’s work within the home. When looking at employed women the term “second shift” can be brought to the forefront. The expression “second shift” refers to the tasks done around the house after the initial work hours are through. Hochschild critiques how the American career system treats the “second shift”; she makes it clear that the working American society has yet to take the additional shift into consideration due to the already implemented

The initial answer is that women today can not simply give up their roles of motherhood and wife because they have gained ground outside the home. Household and child care responsibilities still apply to women even if she wakes early to start her 9am job and doesn't return home until 5pm. Yet, this answer is inherently problematic. The responsibilities discussed above should not mean an inequitable amount of time spent on her children and family as compared to her husband. House-hold responsibilities should not result in less sleep than her husband and having less time