-“Doctor, we were transferred out from the prison at home to the one at work.”
That dire assessment of the feminine plight was recently expressed by Melanie X. who has a demanding white-collar job and a large family to care for, including a cat and a dog.
The sociologist Arlie Hochschild has written that the economic crisis of the early 21st century has tightened the “time bind”: the workweek of salaried professionals increased from a standard 40 hours to 50 plus, not counting the catch-up of work, e-mails, phone calls, etc., done at home after hours. It’s an ever increasing vortex of responsibilities.
Women in blue-collar jobs have fared the worst as, lacking the protective umbrella of strong unions, they have to endure the unpredictable work schedules, lack of benefits and sinking purchasing power related to inflation.
Both white and blue-collar women are struggling with the abusive demands at work besides caring for their children, husbands and elderly parents. They become “helicopter moms” in order to make sure their offspring get ahead. As incomes and sense of self-worth erode, they have an emotional frustration that degrades their quality of life.
Judith Schulevitz proposed that women need a new kind of feminism that she labels as “caregiverism”. She describes it as a “demand for dignity and economic justice for parents dissatisfied with a few weeks of unpaid parental leave and strive to mitigate the sacrifices made by adult children responsible for aging parents.” Besides asking for better childcare benefits, she demands Social security credits for caregivers that want to cut hours or just opt out.
Pamela Druckerman relished that the experience of raising a kid in Paris is a much more relaxed experience than back home, even though French children are as boisterous, creative and creative as the Americans. She claims that French mothers assume that even good parents should not be at the constant service of their children and there is no need to feel guilty about that attitude.
The French society provides the comprehensive social benefits’ net to buttress that state of mind in all the French citizenry, especially women.It’s the money…ça va de soi!
What to do your think? Please tell us.
Don’t leave me alone.
My close girlfriend lives in France and it’s precisely what you say.
Germany is slightly worse (but not bad) in that regard.
‘there is no need to feel guilty about that attitude’ – I esp. liked this one. Moms often do.
Never feel guilty for loving life.
Nope.