The Exploratory Essay
What is the second shift? The understanding of the second shift came about shortly after women joined the workforce. The key term, The Second Shift was created in Hochschild book,which was published in 1989. There’re a number of definitions pertaining to The Second Shift. Butthe more frequent definition used is as followed, the second shift is the dual burden of paid and unpaid work experienced by working women (Hochschild, 1989). Research shows that the percentage rate of women in the workforce has steadily increased since the 1950s.(Hochschild,1989) Research also suggests that ideas regarding The Second Shift are indeed changing with times and amongst younger generations, like anything else. Although many individuals still hold traditional beliefs, we can see a shift in the division of labor in the household.This leads to the idea that The Second Shift has been diminished
Back in the 1900s women would have conversations with their partners about The Second Shift .(Hochschild,1989) A researcher writing states, Before she had children, Adrienne Sherman took the risky step of telling her husband, “It’s share the second shift or it’s divorce.”(Hochschild,1989) Here it can be inferred that for years women have felt concerned with the absence of their partners when raising a child while working and maintaining the upkeep of a household. We can assume that couples found it very arduous to sustain a relationship with equality after the birth of a child. The author gives an another example of a mothers’ experience which states, when she was eight months pregnant and her husband was working nearly all the time, Carol Alston recalls sitting her husband down on the front stairs as he came home from work and saying, “I won’t have this baby if you don’t emotionally prepare for it with me.” Though she didn’t really mean she wouldn’t have the baby, she was making an important point. (Hochschild,2019) This piece of evidence creates an idea to the reader that women say drastic things not meaning it, but to draw attention to their needs and concerns. Carol Alston’s point was from a stance of crying for help. She’s being vulnerable to convey a message to her husband that she needs support and in fact wants equality when it comes to raising a family and household responsibilities. This idea explains what couples have experienced in the past, which helped to coin The Second Shift.
Next, the importance of quality time has increasingly become more imperative to dad’s just as much as mom’s. A research literature provides, even men married to stay-at-home moms spend more time with their kids than in the past. Both genders want to be there, which is why the juggle is now a two gender phenomenon. (Vanderkam,2016) Dad’s being less engaged with their children can lead one to conclude that moms are taking on more of the responsibilities of The Second Shift. Here it can be clearly inferred that earlier in time dads were less engaged and now have shifted the narrative. This ultimately leads to diminishing the ideology of The Second Shift. Men spending more time with their children, just as much as their partner shows equal responsibility. The Second Shift is defined by the sociology dictionary as household duties that follow a paid work day, typically completed by women. (Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014) The narrative that was built behind The Second Shift was that women worked a long day of work then went home to take on numerous household tasks including caring for the children. The idea behind the key term, The Second Shift has changed in modern day due to men and women juggling responsibilities jointly. This refers back to the mentioned point in the introduction regarding The Second Shift changing over a time period.
Another reason for the decreased amount of household labor required of working mothers can be attributed to a decrease in standards of cleanliness and childcare (Bianchi et al. 2000, Milkie et al. 2009) The expectation of the upkeep of a household and childcare has shifted and lessened. Tasks that were expected to be completed by moms are more easier to accomplish in less time. Another researcher writes, instead of being expected to spend hours on weeknight family dinners, mothers can now order a pizza, put a frozen meal in the oven, or stop by McDonalds on their way home from work. (Van Gorp, 2013) Women now have more resources as to where they can order out food in no time. Also, this cuts down the amount of time they’ve spent in the past on making food at home. The burden of preparing three hot meals, having dinner on the table by 6pm, and ironing all household members’ clothes no longer exists in modern society. The researcher contributes most of the credit of the diminishing second shift to the service economy. (Bianchi et al. 2000) Families now rely more on resources in the community to maintain their household and childcare, such as dry cleaning services for washing and ironing clothes. The researcher goes so far as to claim that there was an overvaluation on housework in previous generations, whereas standards today are more realistic and allow more time for other activities (.Bianchi et al. 2000) This plays a crucial role in expectations of The Second Shift and its demise.
As you can see The Second Shift has been diminished over years. In today’s modern society we have more easier access to resources that help mom solve problems, such as ordering out. The effect of this has led mothers to having more time on their hands and possibly engaging with their partners more. With moms having more resources now they’ll feel more equipped to complete a task in no time. This will also make them feel as if they have just as much responsibility as their partners. The traditional idea of moms expectations have shifted into a different form.
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