Get to Work!
Get To Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World addresses many subjects that matter to many people. Work. Family. Justice. Power. Money. What drives the book is my clear commitment that paid work in the public world offers the best chance for people to live a flourishing life, and too many women are passing it up. It is a clear warning that something is very wrong, when it’s only women quitting their jobs – or doing anything not strictly dictated by biology.
Get to Work is a serious analysis of politics and power in the traditional family, not just another entry in the so-called “mommy wars.” If people pay attention to the unfairness it reveals, American society will have to change in profound and important ways, and the change will affect men as much as it does the women of the world. It will affect gay and lesbian people as well as heterosexuals. It will affect business and government as much as the family. It will affect religious traditional families that rest on arguments from the Bible as well as secular traditional families that rest on arguments from evolution. More on this in later days.
With subjects this important, there is bound to be a lot of heat – about my facts and analysis as well as the insights of others I will provide here. Women and men who are living the traditional life, those who face the issue coming down the road, people who make policy in government and in the market economy – all these players are going to have to deal with the call for present and future unpaid female child care providers and housekeepers to get to work in the world.
The debate has already started. Although much of it is nonsense (“I give my middle finger,” etc.) some of it, such as the debate over the nature of the opt out statistics, is real and serious. As the debate emerges, I will address the issues to my best ability. Sometimes I will reprint or cite through to the work of others that I think has value. This is the place to watch if you want to see the debate unfold.
Comments
Linda Hirshman you are my hero! It's about time we call my generation of elite women on their irresponsible behavior - undoing much of the progress made by the generation of women before. My best friend and I have three Harvard degrees and a Rhodes scholarship between us and we are both disturbed by the number of our classmates who are "opting out" for Stepford wife-mommyhood. It makes all the difference to woman everywhere to have women in power. Even at 34, I know I change the world when I speak my mind in the corporate conference room, I literally stand for the proposition that women are equal partners whose ideas belong at the table. How can anyone wish anything less for their daughters? Every woman I know under 30 is getting your book as a present soon.
Posted by: Kat Holliday | August 13, 2006 05:31 AM
Ms. Hirshman; I agree with your premise that women have every bit as much right to stay in the formal work force. However, your premise that men stay in the workplace because it is more important is completely bogus. It is men that have been programmed, and duped by society (both conservative men, and most women). Men have zero choice. If a man chooses to stay home, or to simply not pursue promotions throughout life, he is at best...thought to be a slacker, and at worst a no 'count. For our society to even be debating whether women have a choice, is a complete joke. All of the pressure is on men, none on women. This is true from the very first "date." The man has to choose the location for dinner, and the movie etc. This is because if the woman chooses, then she bears responsibility for the choice. While women position this as "the man gets to choose", the fact is that for the woman, it is a calculated no lose situation. If the movie is good, then "the man got to choose". If the movie is bad, "its his fault". This carries on through life. It is very subtle, and most men and women don't even realize they are playing out the game. By far the most significant, and largest of these choice games come with regard to work. The man will always be required to work, and the spouse or significant other always has the choice. You can even see it in the "two income family" conversations. When a family needs two incomes..."the wife has to work". Why don't we say "the husband has to work?"
Again, I agree with your equality premise, but until it cuts both ways, your argument is weak, and meaningless.
Posted by: Tim Roesler | August 26, 2006 06:57 PM
Thank you for publishing "Get To Work". I have told all of my friends that they should read it. We are mostly career women ages 25 - 28. Each of us is serious about being sucessful and financially independent. I hope all of us keep this frame of mind. I believe your book gives us even more purpose than our own needs. It is about the future of equality. p.s. my husband does dishes, cares for our pets and cooks dinner. Thank you.
Posted by: Diana Stewart-Frasure | August 31, 2006 07:49 PM