“The Second Shift” by Arlie Russell Hochschild sheds light on the fact that America is stuck in a perpetual rut, unable to change its societal gender expectations. Substantial progress has been made when it comes to women in the workplace, but that same progress is not evident when it comes to a woman’s work within the home. The expression “second shift” refers to the tasks done around the house after the initial work hours are through. Hochschild critiques the American career system’s treatment of the “second shift” due to it not taking the second shift into consideration due to the preexisting structure. As Hochschild asserts, “the career system inhibits women, not so much by malevolent disobedience to good rules as by making up rules to
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She states, “Women who do a first shift at work and all of a second shift at home can’t compete on male terms. They find that their late twenties and mid-thirties, the prime childbearing years, are also a peak period of career demands” (22). The years when careers become serious for people are during the same years that children are conceived, causing an overlap between the two. The typical male worker who has a wife and no responsibilities at home essentially defines the jobs in America, holding women back from their ambitions. We see the effect this can have when looking at the Myerson family and the predicament the wife, Ann went through. Both Ann and Robert were successful professionals, at one point Ann even earned earning more than Robert. Even though they saw their relationship as egalitarian, it is evident that they actually function under a family myth of sharing equal responsibilities. It is made clear that Ann, in reality, did more of the second shift than Robert. Due to the conflicts she had with her gender and marital ideologies she eventually ended up quitting her job. She quit because “She’d cut back her mental commitment to work (curtailing work). She cut back time with old friends, seeing them only in the friendly chaos of children’s company (redefining personal needs). Even so, life couldn’t go on like this” ( 213). Not only was the second shift eating up her time, but it was also causing the work at her job to be harder – due to her having to worry about the child’s health and general
She states, “Women who do a first shift at work and all of a second shift at home can’t compete on male terms. They find that their late twenties and mid-thirties, the prime childbearing years, are also a peak period of career demands” (22). The years when careers become serious for people are during the same years that children are conceived, causing an overlap between the two. The typical male worker who has a wife and no responsibilities at home essentially defines the jobs in America, holding women back from their ambitions. We see the effect this can have when looking at the Myerson family and the predicament the wife, Ann went through. Both Ann and Robert were successful professionals, at one point Ann even earned earning more than Robert. Even though they saw their relationship as egalitarian, it is evident that they actually function under a family myth of sharing equal responsibilities. It is made clear that Ann, in reality, did more of the second shift than Robert. Due to the conflicts she had with her gender and marital ideologies she eventually ended up quitting her job. She quit because “She’d cut back her mental commitment to work (curtailing work). She cut back time with old friends, seeing them only in the friendly chaos of children’s company (redefining personal needs). Even so, life couldn’t go on like this” ( 213). Not only was the second shift eating up her time, but it was also causing the work at her job to be harder – due to her having to worry about the child’s health and general