Invisible Labor
The following essay will discuss the idea of invisible labor and its relationship to gender and technology over time, but to begin this argument, the question, "what is invisible labor?" must be answered. As we have discussed over the past several weeks in class, invisible labor is the idea that women are the caregivers of a household and are solely responsible for daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Beginning with Oldenziel's work Unsettled Discourses, women began experiencing oppression from technology early in the industrial revolution. As Oldenziel eludes, men were scared that women would become "heroes" in the technological field and that they would be downed from their contributions to society and as a result; men created
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Flour was a large part of the everyday diet and when it was industrialized white flour was viewed as a higher-class grocery, while other types of grains were viewed of a lesser class grocery. This created more work for the mother as the title suggests because now not only did women have to go out and buy the flour, they now were responsible for the class standing of their families when purchasing something essential for her daily cooking needs. One may argue that that the invention of flour, bleached, dried, and then later sent to a local store or market would have no effect on a woman's labor, that in some ways it removed manual labor from women's lives and reduced the number of people it took to prepare something like dinner. However, this transition was a catalyst point of producing housework for women and the divide in housework rules that we see in our society …show more content…
Women out in the workforce did not change this view of women as caregivers however, they were still responsible to cook, clean, and take care of her family outside of the financial realm even though society now said it was socially acceptable for her to have a job. A society without knowing created this idea of the "Second Shift." The second shift-encompassed women working an everyday job in the factory but at the end of the day, her invisible labor or second shift was to mold into societies idea of a perfect woman and cook, clean, and take care of the children. The second shift was yet another idea formed by the society that continued to force women into the stereotype that they have to be the primary caregiver in her family later in the
Flour was a large part of the everyday diet and when it was industrialized white flour was viewed as a higher-class grocery, while other types of grains were viewed of a lesser class grocery. This created more work for the mother as the title suggests because now not only did women have to go out and buy the flour, they now were responsible for the class standing of their families when purchasing something essential for her daily cooking needs. One may argue that that the invention of flour, bleached, dried, and then later sent to a local store or market would have no effect on a woman's labor, that in some ways it removed manual labor from women's lives and reduced the number of people it took to prepare something like dinner. However, this transition was a catalyst point of producing housework for women and the divide in housework rules that we see in our society …show more content…
Women out in the workforce did not change this view of women as caregivers however, they were still responsible to cook, clean, and take care of her family outside of the financial realm even though society now said it was socially acceptable for her to have a job. A society without knowing created this idea of the "Second Shift." The second shift-encompassed women working an everyday job in the factory but at the end of the day, her invisible labor or second shift was to mold into societies idea of a perfect woman and cook, clean, and take care of the children. The second shift was yet another idea formed by the society that continued to force women into the stereotype that they have to be the primary caregiver in her family later in the