The Second Shift: Working Parents And The Revolution At Home By Arlie Hochschild

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Article Review I read the article The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home by Arlie Hochschild. In this article, she talks about how women put more hours into the day by working and coming home and taking care of children and housework. She starts the article out by showing working mothers a picture of a successful women wearing a suit. In the picture, the women was holding a briefcase in one hand and a child in the other. She looks perfect in the picture. The working mothers that she showed the picture laughed and explained that is not how a working mother looks. She then interview different people to see what their outlook was on “how is it right for a mother of young children to work a full-time job, or how much a husband …show more content…

They interviewed 55 couples and observed them in their houses. She called to interview some of the babysitters and they seemed surprised that she wanted their input. They explained that most people do not think what they do is a “job”. When she was interviewing and observing these people she tried to be like a dog just watching her surroundings. After observing the families in their homes, she wanted to ask some questions. She asked them “who did how much of a wide variety of household tasks. She asked who cooks? Vacuums? Makes the beds? Sews? Cares for plants? Sends Christmas or Hanukkah cards? She also asked: Who washed the car? Repairs household appliances? Does the taxes? Tend the yard?” We can answer these questions for ourselves. We all know that most of the housework is done by the mother and the other more masculine work is completed by the father. She noticed that the women that she interviewed seemed to be more torn between work and family than their husbands. Most of the women felt that the “second shift” was their issue. Most of the husbands said that they felt that they knew what their wives were going through because they had to deal with it. Women have so much more on their plates than men. Most women know what all they have to complete and in what time frame. Many men just go with the flow and not really care what is going on around

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