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.