 |
I
am an undergraduate, middle
aged and struggling to come
to terms with a question on
patriarchal and sexual division
of labour. I would appreciate
it if you would give me some
help. I have decided to write
about women and work in the
public and private domain however,
I would like to tie this in
with patriarchal. So if you
could help me I would be very
grateful as it is quite some
time since I actually studied
and things have changed so much.
Thank you again, Dee
|
 |
Wow,
your question is simultaneously
difficult to answer and easy.
Easy because it is so glaringly
obvious. Difficult, because
I think this is the basic struggle
for feminists or the basic obstacle
in terms of realizing an equal
world. For instance, while we
do have some knowledge about
equal pay--meaning that men
and women doing the same job
deserved to be paid the same
amount. However, what we don't
have much experience with is
re-valuing the entire basis
of work. Those professsions
that are primarily male are
much more valuable than those
that are primarily female. And
I believe this doesn't always
have to do with skill--enter
the patriarchy--which defines
things masculine as more valuable
than things feminine. Other
people that have written about
this are Maria Meis, and Arlie
Hochschild has written about
the Second Shift--housework after out of house work--which of course, helps
to perpetuate this situation.
I hope that helps. If you need
me to clarify, let me know.
—Amy
|
