Arlie Hochschild's "The Second Shift"

What is "the part" Billy Doidge Kilgore "was not prepared for as a Stay-at-home Dad" in his article of that title?

He was not prepared for the emotional toll that the pressure of his personal identity clashing with the ideologies of society would have on him. These pressures placed an unknown burden on him when he originally made the choice to become a stay-at-home dad.

Hochschild stats that one important finding of her study is that "the strain of working shifts often affects men nearly as much as women." What are the effects on men?

If men share the second shift, stress from this affects them directly. If they don't share, it affects them through their wives.

How does social class affect the strains experienced by two-job families?

In blue-collar (working class) families, the strain is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor day care, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partners' job. In upper-middle class families, it is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of careers in which both partners become willing believers.

What is Hochschild's argument in response to the idea that women's employment has caused higher divorce rates?

It is not the employment of women causing the divorce rates, it is the husband's willingness to share the work at home.

Where do Sullivan and Coltrane think the "stalled revolution" really lies?

No family-friendly policies and political elites do not wish to assist families

Hochschild notes that "Norway has undergone a gender revolution, but avoided a stalled revolution." What are the government provisions that have made it possible for Norway to avoid a stalled revolution?

Norwegian parents of new or newly adopted babies enjoy an 11 month paid leave, and new fathers are offered a month's paid leave exclusive to them, forfeited if they decline. Parents receive cash benefits for children ages 1-3 who lack a full time place at a public daycare center. Should an elderly parent fall ill, a person with a job can sign up for a care salary, and take off time from work to take care for them. Also, a full time work week is 35 hours.

What would Hochschild like to see change in terms of government and corporate policies?

She would like the government or corporations to offer paid parental leave to parents of natural or adoptive children, and paid "care leave" to tend to their elderly parents, introduce flexible low-hour family phases, give tax credit to developers of affordable housing near workplaces and shopping centers near meal prep facilities, and create warm and creative daycares.

What are the various strategies that women develop in response to the problem of the second shift?

Staging as showdown, small prods, orienting the problem to the man's strengths, supermoming, cutting back at work or at home, and seeking hired help.

What strategies do men develop?

Superdads, Substitute offerings, avoidance and bargaining, and a needs reduction

What do Sullivan and Coltrane say about the relationship between gender equality and marital satisfaction?

The more shared the second shift at home is, the happier and less likely the marriage is to end in divorce.

Why are qualitative research methods suitable for answering the questions that Hochschild asks?

The questions are opinion based and feeling related, thus qualitative methods are better suited for answering them.

What is the "curious hierarchy of backstage 'wealth'" that Hochschild describes?

The richest int his hierarchy are the men with unemployed wives and a secretary to take care of 2 different parts of life. The poorest is the single mother who works full time. The middle is the two job couples.

In some of the chapters about the couples, Hochschild specifically addresses ways in which "economic and cultural trends which originate far outside marriage" shape what happens inside specific marriages. Her point, both in these specific marriages as well as in the book as a whole, is that "the stalled revolution" shapes what happens within specific marriages. What does this mean?

The stalled revolution is persistent and affects more people than we may think.

What is the "egalitarian" gender ideology?

The woman wants to identify in the same spheres as her husband does, and wants to have equal amount of power in a marriage.

What is the "transitional" gender ideology?

The woman wants to identify with both care of the home and with helping her husband earn money, but wants her husband to focus on earning a living.

What is the "traditional" gender ideology?

The woman wants to identify with her activities at home, wants her husband to base his identity with his work, and wants less power than he has.

What does Hochschild mean by "backstage support for work"?

The woman, by taking on the second shift, supports the husbands working life.

According to Pamela Smock, what is "invisible" household work?

The work that no one sees, such as emotional labor, household management (scheduling) and kin work, such as sending invitations or making sure the child is prepared for school.

According to Paula England, why is there asymmetry in the changes in gender roles over the last few decades?

There is no reward for men moving into female dominated professions like there is for women moving into male dominated professions.

Hochschild notes that most of the couples in her book were middle class and worked at a company that "embraced progressive policies towards personel, generous benefits and salaries." Why does she want us to take these things into account as we read her book?

These middle-class families are in the best-case middle class scenarios.

What does Hochschild mean by "a 'his' and 'hers' to the economic development of the United States"?

Women are becoming more economically involved and men less so.

Name and then briefly describe the three kinds of tensions Hochschild found within the marriages she studied.

1. Between the husband's idea of what he and his wife should do at home and work, and the wife's idea. 2. A shared desire to live the old-fashioned life, and the need for the wife's salary. 3. Between the importance of the family's need for care and the devaluation of the work it takes to give that care.

What reasons does Hochschild give for the reason that women are more torn between the demands of work an family than thier hudbands?

1. Wives feel more responsible for the home. 2. Wives are often torn between senses of urgency. 3. Men have more control over when they make their contributions to the home. 4. Women more often do two things at once.

"Women's move into the economy...is the basic social revolution of our time." Hochschild argues that with this move, in general, "has increased the power of women." But she also identifies two facts that keep many women from pushing their husbands to share equally in the home. What are those two facts?

1. Women earn significantly less in their jobs. 2. Marriages have become less stable.

In 2016, what percentage of mothers with children under 18 were employed?

70.5%

What does Hochschild mean by a "family myth"?

A construction or action that is falsely justified but manage key tensions.

What does Hochschild mean by "the stalled revolution"?

Absence in changes to make women's work-life balance easier.

How does Hochschild define the "gender strategy"?

Applying ideas about gender to the life unfolding before them.

What does Hochschild mean by the "economy of gratitude"?

male gender ideology v woman gender ideology and the gratitude based on the interplay of these ideologies