Work It

In the first article entitled “Joey’s Problem: Nancy and Evan Holt” the author discusses the egalitarian myth that seems to persist universally in families today. The myth is that from the outside it appears that both the husband and wife share in responsibility when it comes to household and childcare duties. Their responsibility and effort are seen as equal. There is a subconscious understanding between the two that they both contribute equally. In reality, so many of these tasks and responsibilities end up being place on the wife. This is known as the ‘second shift’ as she fulfills her first shift as a breadwinner during her day job to come home and fulfill her second shift in housekeeping and childcare. There are some similarities between my own family and the article, but in reality I believe there are fare more differences. Although my Father is the sole breadwinner of the family, my parents share the responsibility of economic decisions, taking care of the house, and taking care of their children. If my father cooks then my mother will do the dishes and vice versa. However, they do have certain domains in which they care for the house.

In the Williams article, the ideology of domesticity is based on the idea that overtime men have taken on the role as the breadwinner and women have been left with the domestic work at home. Men’s careers have grown in economic and societal value overtime in our society probably due to the fact that they were never place on the ‘mommy track’. The three constraints that domesticity place on organized work include the idea that the ‘ideal worker’ is secluded and independent from family and household obligations, usually more likely to be a male. The second is the male idealism that they should and need to be the breadwinner, to fulfill their responsibility to society to be the ‘ideal worker’. Lastly, it shapes what a woman’s job should be: primarily a caregiver of the children and responsible of the house. She is excluded from using her education and skills to compete as an ‘ideal worker’ because she is tied down by the children. This idea is similar to the film we saw in class regarding life in Colonial America. The man was the traditional breadwinner of the family; he left the house to support his family by farming, hunting, and gathering. He took care of his family unit by providing them with food, shelter, money, status. The wife took primary care of the children, their health, the cooking, educating them, maintaining the household, and so much more. While both jobs were extremely important, the division of labor reflects the ideology of domesticity that Williams describes.

I agree with William’s on certain levels. Not every family can afford the ‘free choice’. Many two-parent households are not even given the liberty to make a choice as to who stays home and who goes to work. Single parents are especially never faced with the privileged ‘first choice’. I think the choice should not be based on gender, but should be based on which parent is making a higher salary and who is going to have the more promising career. These factors are going to directly benefit the well being of the children and their own future. Parents should come to these decisions together as a unit, a team, what will benefit the family as a whole.

According to Carrington, the division of labor in lesbigay families varies from heterosexual family. There seems to be a slightly more egalitarian approach to the division of household and childcare responsibilities. However, it is also a topic that seems to be rarely brought up or discusses amongst homosexual families. Perhaps because the division of labor will reflect the gender types that each spouse falls into. The division of labor is not a clear and simple decision when both partners are full-time workers. Often one partner has not been socialized or raised to be the more ‘domestic’ partner out of the two. Many of the responsibilities end up being divided amongst the two. More often than not, one will take on the more feminized roles and the other the masculine.

Gender Politics in Sex and Dating

Over the years, teenagers have changed their views towards the subject of sex. Drastic trends have taken hold amongst young adults, changing the culture of sex and romance in our country. Teenagers are taking more precaution and obstain a better understanding towards the matter. Fewer teenagers are engaging in sex but the conduct has become even more casual between both genders.

The first article highlights the positive trends that are occuring amongst teenagers. Fewer teenagers are engaging in sex, or engaging in casual sex. With this trend that means that there are fewer teen pregancies, fewer abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases being spread. More individuals are holding off from sex until they are in a committed relationship or feel emotionall mature. The sense of pressure to lose one's virginity in high school is not as harshly felt compared with other previous decades. This can be attributed to better sex education in school sytems, more teens practicing abstinence, and better awareness of contraceptive uses and purchasing information. Not only does there seem to be an education and awareness revolution occuring amongst teenagers, but a gender revolution as well. More girls are witholding sex from their partners, as a way to stand their ground, demanding respect and equality from their male counterparts. Through a sample of various bar graphs, these trends can be easily recognized.

In the second article, the article focusees less on teenagers in high school and flushes out today's sexual culture amongst college coeds. Dating is almost non-existent on college campuses these days. Meeting up at parties or social events amongst friends and then hooking up is the new dating for today's college students. Contrasting to the previous article, college males are dominating over college females. According to statistics, males are being more pleasured than theur female counterparts. College females do not seem to be witholding in the same regard as high school females. More and more students are hooking up with people they don't even know, or hardly know. Less and less are going on dates, engaging in conversation, hanging out and getting to know one another before they engage in sexual activity.

The trends highlighted by England and Thomas seem to perfectly echo trends happening here at Boston College. There is hardly any dating before hooking up occurs. Everything is very casual and dominated more so by the males on our campus, specifically male athletes.