After reading the past few chapters from Schwartz- Cowan and listening to the class discussions, I would have to agree that the overall main idea being pushed is that the industrialization period lead to efficiency in household mothers lives however did not lead to less work in their lives. While inventions of the industrialization period such as automobiles, stoves, running water, electricity and more made our lives more efficient and more accessible to things it also added a lot more work for women, as the author titles her book. The industrialization separated men and women’s roles significantly and in addition added many new chores to the list of women’s things to do. Household mothers now had to dig deeper into these standards of living
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This is when the idea of the “Second Shift” was born as professor Nguyen mentioned in class. The idea that women were now expected to be a mother, work a full time job, and then come home to all of the household duties a mother “should” preform for her husband and children and fulfill her “Second Shift.” To me although this is infuriating, I think this is still very persistent in society today. Many women both single and family based mothers, go to work all day and then come home to a house in shambles children who need dinner and homework to be done, clothes that need washing, and it is her responsibility to get it done. I have watched my own mother do this for 20 years, her mother do it, and even my great-great grandmothers generations mold to this idea of the second shift. Although all three women in each generation had different tasks and expectations all were working mothers who came home to a second shift at night. Reflecting on this personal experience it makes me wonder if stereotypes such as women being the responsible caregiver of the household in modern society are passed down generation to generation until the pattern is eventually broken by a woman in the family who is determined to be different and not lives these standards she has been
This is when the idea of the “Second Shift” was born as professor Nguyen mentioned in class. The idea that women were now expected to be a mother, work a full time job, and then come home to all of the household duties a mother “should” preform for her husband and children and fulfill her “Second Shift.” To me although this is infuriating, I think this is still very persistent in society today. Many women both single and family based mothers, go to work all day and then come home to a house in shambles children who need dinner and homework to be done, clothes that need washing, and it is her responsibility to get it done. I have watched my own mother do this for 20 years, her mother do it, and even my great-great grandmothers generations mold to this idea of the second shift. Although all three women in each generation had different tasks and expectations all were working mothers who came home to a second shift at night. Reflecting on this personal experience it makes me wonder if stereotypes such as women being the responsible caregiver of the household in modern society are passed down generation to generation until the pattern is eventually broken by a woman in the family who is determined to be different and not lives these standards she has been