Division of Unpaid Labor

Domesticity and the Political Economy of Lesbigay Families
Before reading this it could easily be assumed that in lesbigay families, since there isn’t the obvious gender difference household work is split up equally. In reading this it becomes apparent that inequality exists in all types of relationships. Every family is different. It becomes clear that personalities certainly have to be taken into account as well as gender identity. Duties of household chores are not typically assigned to one person. This seems to steem from the couples unwillingness to conform to stereotypes or live by defined gender roles. This leads many of these families to seek outside help because they might both work. The difference between heterosexual couples is that these lesbigay couples seem to start off on the same foot. The similarity being that as one starts to be contributing more financially the other partner might seem to contribute more to household tasks to keep the family functioning.

What seemed interesting to me was the importance of balancing their family life in these lesbigay relationships. It seemed that just as any ordinary couples they are forced with the struggle of mainintaing family and work. Some struggle to maintain the balance while others turn down opportunites in the workforce to maintain their outside relationships.

Personally this article for me was really insightful. I found that I was so used to thinking about men and women couples I was neglecting to examine a huge group of people wo don’t fall in that category. This really helped me see the conflict that arises for all people who look to create a family and also shows me that its almost natural for one person to take charge in the outside world and one in the household world.

Doing Housework: Feeding & Family Life
This article introduces an interesting outlook on housework. It breaks it down to categories. This clarifies that all these tasks are not paid work. It shows that many women see this as a way of showing how much they care and don’t look at like the task of paid work. With the changing age these tasks are now easier and faster. Though things are easier and one might think it gives the family more time to be together. But in actuality takes away from the quality time that is to be shared over these meals. In the growing importance of the family meal it allows for discussion and wind down time for everyone in the family. Conversation allows for strengthened connections this becomes an opportunity for the parents to make sure everyone is healthy and on track.

Chapter 4: Joey’s Problem
Evan and Nancy exemplify the conflict in balancing domestic life and work. It implies that men (husbands) have much more time to themselves then women because they are not contributing the way the women do in the household. This brings to light the demand for new men who share in these additional tasks. With more and more women having jobs they don’t need to split tasks into household and real world they need to split both. With growing divorce rates its hard to not assume that mens inability to adapt to the new roles women are taking on. Though it might look like there might not be an issue with these extra duties that are done for the betterment of the family the women may become resentful. This might also force them to put their children first as opposed to their husbands who they don’t feel are putting their best effort to making the family work.

Autonomy, Dependence or Display: The Relationship Between Women’s Earnings and Housework
This study suggests that womens housework is determined by their own earnings. Married women that earn less seem more likely than other women to have high earnings, or at least earnings compared to husbands. It seems as if there is trouble with finding a balance and most times the womens voice is not valued the same.
Its basically summarized that the more a women contributes financially the more she can afford to have help with domestic duties making her less and less dependent the more money she has.