The devaluation of care is seldom recognized as an important issue, and this is having drastic affects on society. In Unfinished Business:Women, Men, Work, Family, Anne-Marie Slaughter focuses on this issue and explains why it has become a problem in society, while providing the solutions to fix it. Women are stereotypically viewed as caregivers, and Slaughter challenges these popular assumptions. In addition, she explores how language has shaped our views and claims that we must reevaluate the way we speak about caregiving. She insists that it is necessary for us to recognize the value of care and how it benefits society. She argues that investing in and learning to value caregiving will open up opportunities for working parents in order to create a society that is equal for all. By challenging long-held assumptions and changing our attitude towards caregiving, we can create a …show more content…
By only recognizing women as primary caregivers, society is contributing to the devaluation of care because it becomes a “women’s” issue. Slaughter also discusses the “halo dad syndrome” where “fathers do what is routinely expected of mothers and are treated as if they are extraordinary” (181). This double standard is a reflection on gender stereotypes because men are not expected to be capable of caregiving as women typically are. By placing these standards on men, society moves further from equality because care continues to be viewed as a women’s job. As a result, care is further devalued because “women’s work” is often viewed as less superior than “men’s work” in society. It is necessary to recognize care as a trait that all genders can posses and practice. By including everyone in the conversation, it is easier to view caregiving as a topic that should be valued and recognized by
...women are known to raise their children alone, the hardship of doing so cannot be underestimated and subordinating to a male provider might seem a better alternative (Sorenson & McLanahan, 1989). Pateman (p.33) takes on a tone of surrender when she indicates that from a social perspective a women’s place still seems to be within the family, especially in light of legislative action which seems to reinforce this opinion. This stand is further supported by the view that women are the ones who mostly provide primary care to children, and thus governmental initiatives such as paid maternity leave or other type of support cannot but be based on this view. Pateman (p.34) seems to promote the idea that patriarchy can be overridden by shared parenting, but will this imply the need for men to keep or minimise their socio-political contribution and focus on their family unit?
This is supported by her quote “I believe that we can “have it all at the same time.” But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured” (680). From this quote we can conclude that Anne-Marie Slaughter believes that both our economy and our society are to blame for women and men struggling “to combine professional success and satisfaction with a real commitment to family” (684). These struggles in our society come from the gender roles that our society puts on us when we are born. It’s assumed that women need to make sure the family life is functioning correctly, while men need to make sure that their family is financially stable. In addition to gender role assumption, many high end positions require employees to work extremely long hours in the work
When intensive mothers are busy with thier responsibilities in the public sphere, due to their belief that a mother is the central caregiver, their temporary replacement must exclusively be female (Hays 414). Even with a female nanny who “leaves the place in a mess, makes a petty point of not putting the dishwasher on […], never gives the correct change from the supermarket and “loses” all the receipts” (Pearson 84), Kate still makes every effort to keep the nanny in her family. From the perspective of intensive mothers, men are not capable of providing the same quality of care that a woman is able to provide (Hays 414). From a gender essentialist perspective, Kate argues that “Emily and Ben need me, and it’s me that they want. […] Daddy is the ocean; Mummy is the port, the safe haven they nestle in to gain the courage to venture farther and farther out each time” (Pearson 169). Therefore, intensive mothers find “alternate mothers,” that is, credentialed female child-care providers (Hays 412) such as Paula, Kate’s nanny, as well as Jo, Alice’s nanny who are able to promote the intellectual enrichment of their
Besides that, mothers and grandmothers are more likely to teach their daughters the ways of domestic care; thus, women are still expected to be skilled at home. Men grow up thinking that they should not like which curtains go with the window or care about how the house is organized, especially since they see their mothers take care of the work for them. Any interest in such household matters puts men in a position to be labeled gay. Although some men are able to perform household duties, there is less expectation for them to be a domestic and women are still the ones expected to be adept at home. Therefore, gender roles at home create this system where women bond with their maternal elders, men can help and relax at home, and women satisfy some control of domestic care and unity in the
"Child Care and Elder Care." Women in American Society. Melissa J. Doak. 2010 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Information Plus Reference Series. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 May 2014.
Throughout the book she has interviewed different women and nannies talking about their experience when it comes to the balance of family and work life. In addition, the book shows that nannies don’t try to replace the mother; however, they are just trying to be the best in order to provide for them and their families. Since, many of the nannies are either young, foreign, immigrants, or even old, they all come from different backgrounds. MacDonald taught the understanding of this powerful concept of family about how being a working mother does not really change that much in the family atmosphere. The concept of “family” can be defined as many things from blood relatives to close friends. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, a family is defined as “two or more persons who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption and who live together, as one household” (Newman and Grauerholz, 2002, p. 7). A Family can mean many things for individuals; however, the roles of the individuals in the family, such as the mother and father sometimes cannot be simply defined. MacDonald started with the Chapter on “Childcare on Trial”, which was a story about Deborah Eappen, a wife and
Anne Marie Slaughter’s “Why Women still can’t have it All” at first glance seems like a derogatory article towards feminists everywhere; it is in fact an accurate depiction on how hard it is for women to really have it all with the way employers have designed their schedules and expectations of employee’s. Mrs. Slaughter is an established woman who was the first female director for policy planning at the State Department in Washington; after two years in a position that was incredibly coveted and prestigious she decided that her family was more important to her. Slaughter makes an important key point in the beginning of her article that women are fighting a battle on gender roles whether; they choose to fulfill the motherly caring and nurturing stereotype that they’ve been slated with for the past 100 years or if they decide to completely desert their families to become workaholics. So what is the right choice for women and how does one decide what is the right choice for their specific situation?
It is a rare occurrence indeed to stumble upon a nonfiction article as raw and true as “The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed to Be. How It Was.” by Hope Edelman. The author of three nonfiction books, who has had her work published in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Seventeen magazine, writes about her expectations regarding an egalitarian marriage with equal parenting responsibilities, and compares them to the reality that comes from living in a household where both parents work full-time and cannot drop all of their responsibilities to care for a toddler. Edelman’s narrative is a flippant view on modern views of feminist relationships, from both the side of the feminist and the side of a woman whose marriage did not reflect those ideals. While she argues everyday gender roles, she may reach a deeper topic than just the sexes assigned roles of being either a nurturer or a provider, but never both. She mentions late in the article that the two
...er, K. (2013). Men at work, fathers at home: uncovering the masculine face of caregiver discrimination. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 253.
“The logic of intensive mothering, particularly as it applies to middle- and upper-middle-class mothers, therefore seems to be the greatest barrier to solving the problems detailed in this book….Nearly all mothers, for instance, feel they ought to be at home with their children, ought to want to be at home with their children, and ought to be their children’s primary parent.” Pg. 201 This quote from Untangling the Mother-Nanny Knot emphasizes on the fact that these working mothers need to let go a of that temperament that they must keep the nanny, their spouse and anyone else away from their child at any cost. Because they are not able to be there for their kids they can rest their mind knowing that the person with their child when they are not present is someone that will love them and care for them no matter what, and all the working mother must do is let go just a
Women have persistently been challenged with issues regarding what it means to be a ‘good mother’. Although times continue to change, issues confronting 21st century mothers, remain similar to the ones addressed in past generations. An abundance of mothers in the 21st century are still faced with the complex issue regarding the ‘stay-at-home mom’ stereotype, in spite of the fact that the feminist movement has provided women with more rights in the present-day, then ever before. However, while strides have been made, these changes have had an affect on society’s notion of motherhood. The portrayal of motherhood is determined by countless expectations in which society has established. Such expectancies have expanded, which now effect how motherhood is depicted in different cultures. As a whole the feminist movement has strongly influenced Western Society, which has resulted in women’s suffrage, the right to make individual decisions, and has also led to wide-ranging employment for women at more equivalent wages. However, the emergence of female employment has created a war between ‘stay-at-home’ and ‘working’ mothers, which is often referred to as ‘Mommy Wars’. In addition, female employment provides men with the opportunity to stay at home and become the primary caregiver, which has ultimately had a large impact on societies notion of motherhood, treating them differently than primary caregivers of the opposite gender. This paper will examine how the feminist movement has altered societies notion of motherhood in the 21st century in comparison to past generations as a result of working mothers and stay at home fathers.
Throughout history, the roles of men and women in the home suggested that the husband would provide for his family, usually in a professional field, and be the head of his household, while the submissive wife remained at home. This wife’s only jobs included childcare, housekeeping, and placing dinner on the table in front of her family. The roles women and men played in earlier generations exemplify the way society limited men and women by placing them into gender specific molds; biology has never claimed that men were the sole survivors of American families, and that women were the only ones capable of making a pot roast. This depiction of the typical family has evolved. For example, in her observation of American families, author Judy Root Aulette noted that more families practice Egalitarian ideologies and are in favor of gender equality. “Women are more likely to participate in the workforce, while men are more likely to share in housework and childcare (apa…).” Today’s American families have broken the Ward and June Cleaver mold, and continue to become stronger and more sufficient. Single parent families currently become increasingly popular in America, with single men and women taking on the roles of both mother and father. This bend in the gender rules would have, previously, been unheard of, but in the evolution of gender in the family, it’s now socially acceptable, and very common.
As time went on it became no longer feasibly possible for only one breadwinner and women became more prevalent in the workplace as two incomes were now needed (Brenner, 2000). Brenner (2000, p. 308) states, “male dominance continues, because feminism has been signally unable to win significant changes in the organization of social reproduction”. This quote thus proving that the idea of social reproduction still exists in the fact that women are still seen as caregivers and expected in the
Since the 1950’s, women have been seen as very dainty and sensitive creatures who are meant to be silent partners to their mates. A woman’s place was in the home-cooking, cleaning and watching after her children. Women were to get up every morning and prepare lunches for their breadwinning husbands, as well as wake and dress the children for school, cook breakfast, do housework and have a hot meal on the table when her husband was to return home. Women have stepped down to their traditional roles as housewife and caretaker, and it has raised many issues in society today. It was considered a woman’s job to be a good cook and be a whiz with a broom, in fact, it is what made them so darn attractive. Times, they are a changing. In fact, the U.S Department of Labor states that in the year 2008, women will make up 48% of the work force. That means that more women will be going to college and getting and education, as well as heading out into the workforce to make a name for themselves.
One of the issues that parents are dealing with is money. They believe that they can’t have a stay at home parent, because they wouldn’t be able to live off of one parent’s salary. However what many people don’t know that the value of a stay a home parent is a lot more than one would imagine. According to Barbara Sefton, “The stay-at-home mother is on duty an average of 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. She provides a service with a market value of approximately $36,000 annually.” This is more than some individual salaries. Most do not realize how much work a stay a stay at home mom does, from c...