As I have tried to teach you, Economics is an inclusive field, using History, Psychology and Sociology among other fields. Here is a report on an economists' research into the gendering of housework. Girls do more "unpaid" types of work than boys do. The title of the article is "Boys mow lawns, Girls do dishes".Do you think these unconscious cultural practices roll over into the workplace?
21 comments:
This article is pretty interesting. While women are becoming more independent than they were years ago, they are still being categorized as the gender that does the chores. Though in some houses this might not be true, for the majority of the American families, it is and will carry on for many more generations to come. I live in a house with my brother and both my parents and i see that what the article talks about exists in my house. My mom does the wash and the dishes and cleans, and me, my brother and my dad do the yard work and take out the garbage and stuff like that. About the question regarding whether this unconcious cultural practice exists in the workplace, i say it does. My first job was working in a restaurant and i remeber that usually the women in the kitchen were the ones washing the dishes and the men were the ones cleaning the grills and such. Its funny how far weve come as a society but that these chore differentiations still exists shows that some things will never change.
Umm yes, this article shows many truths! Women/girls definitely do more work around the house overall. Yeah, lawnmowing is an arduous task opposed to laundry but laundry is needed everyday, lawnmowing once everyweek or so depending on the household. Thus, it is obvious that women are discriminated against in the household but why? Plainly tradition I suppose...Even though I made my brother switch jobs with me every month (dishes and garbage), I still do laundry, cleaning and tons of other things he wouldnt consider doing. I know it won't change anytime soon.
This article is true for most families, maybe if you had one girl and one boy, around the same age the chores chores would be split up like that. In my family my little brother is the laziest and tells other people to pick up his toys, and my sister always pulls "i have homework" when its time to do the dishes. I think the oldest child in the house does the most chores. unlike the article, i would rather follow around my dad and build a house, than learn how to cook a meal, but thats just me. I dont really agree with the article just because its really only girls in the house that do anywork, and all the "man" jobs like mowing the lawn and taking out the trash, my dad hires people to do.
This article is definitely true for most households. I live with my dad and brother and my 8 year old sister, and I do most of the cleaning in the house, even though my dad's the adult. I wonder is it slightly genetic, after all it's only very recently that gender roles began to change, after centuries of women doing the house chores and men working. Also, could it be preference? Personally I prefer cleaning around the house then mowing the lawn or cleaning out the garage. But I'm the one that takes out the trash the most in my house, so maybe progress is being made, just slowly. I think one day chores will be equally distributed, but change doesn't happen overnight.
I agree with many aspects of this article. It is common that the men do the more laborious work while women do more of the traditional cooking and cleaning chores. In my house I know my brother is in charge of repairs, and my sister and I cook and clean. I however don’t think this is a good way to be raised; while the chores may get done faster this way my sister and I will probably never know how to mow the lawn and my brother may never be able to cook a decent meal. I only had one disagreement with the article, in the article it was stated that men do the chores that in the real world people get paid for, such as mowing lawns, and women do other chores such as cooking and cleaning, well correct me if I am wrong but in the food industry aren’t people being paid to cook and clean? Other then that I thought this article to be very true and interesting.
Yes! even at work the unconcious gender gap arises. Not only the different wages that women and men get paid but also with their responsabilities at work. But the only reason why this happens its because of society. Society has a SET view of men and women and it is unluckily to be changed. In my house this is not only seen by hte things we have to do but also the things we are "allowed" to do. For instance, I wont be allowed past 1, but my cousin (a guy) could be allowed out till much later simply because he is a guy.
This article is definetly true because in my own house my sister does the dishes and I do the garbage. Maybe adult males used to do less housework because it used to be that women were stay-at-home moms. But now it's more common that both parents work and women continue to have to do more housework. ALthough this is unfair, judging by the allocation of chores to children in most american households, this tradition is here to stay for a while.
This article pointed out the obvious: that girls still do the majority of cleaning, while boys still handle the majority of the handiwork around the home. In my opinion though, the divide isn't necessary.
I live with my mom, and occasionally my sister comes home from college. There is no man to kill spiders or change lightbulbs in my house, and incredible as it may seem, we're all still alive and well. My dad lives alone but somehow he manages to clean dishes, along with taking out the trash.
What does this prove? That there is no reasoning behind the men taking out the trash and the women cleaning the dishes. The gender based division of labor may come from peoples preferences, comfort zones, or experience (not necessarily from sexism), but in a household where there aren't both genders all the work obviously gets done.
i think it is true that there are gender relating chores which then influence the workplace however i do believe this all depends on who you are working for and who you are working with. i have a sister so there is no gender related jobs we both do dishes we both help my dad with building or moving things around the house. as far as in the work place where i work i am the only one working with my employer she payed me the same to start as she payed the boy who worked before me. however this is not true where a friend worked she was payed the same wage as a girl who had been working there for 7 years while the boys she worked with were payed more. so i think it all veries from place to place and how the person you work for (or live with) views the situation
I think this article really has some good points. There is still a major gender divide that is not necessarily needed. Girls are still being brought up these days, to clean- doing laundry, dishes, and keeping the house tidy. And boys are taught to take out the trash and mow the lawn. Honestly i dont think these are fair chores to divide. How can you compare cleaning and mowing a lawn. I have never actually mowed a lawn before, and yes it might be hard, but then again isn't cleaning? I mean no one likes to clean their rooms.. even girls. And in my household chores are divided as- "Girls, clean the house", "Nick(my brother) mow the lawn". Have you ever actually stopped to think about it, clean the house is a pretty broad statement.. that to me, means the entire house which could take forever.. the lawn atleast has an end. People manage on their own every day- males and females.. so i really don't see the need for a divide that is not fair, even if that means that i need to take out the trash once and a while.
this makes sence. not having a sister i wouldnt know how much she could possibly be doing. but i know my mom is the person who does the majority of the dishes (even though she feeds us off of paper and every thing gets throw out any ways). and it does make more sence that boys for more manual labor jobs. i mean if you think about it how many female construction workers are there or female plumbers. the child hood chores seem more like skills that people can fall back on if their plans fall threw. if boys cant get into college they can always go bang nails for a living. and if girls cant they can always make a good house mom or waitress or summin long those lines.
I didn't realize how subconscious the whole chore system is until i read this article! When my parents go away and me and my sister have to split chores its always just me taking out garbage and her washing dishes I never thought of how often these gender roles subconsciously manifest themselves when you least expect it! especially in the workplace...girls are probably at a disadvantage because men are used to doing chores that are paid for while women are stuck doing house duties that don't count towards GDP. i have no idea what i am saying i have been writing a research paper all night and now its 6am, bye
Throghout history, many socities have developed gender divides between duties, such as the gender divided housework in US households that was described in this article. Gender division may seem unacceptable in our society, but in terms of economics, this gender division is all about practicality. If a girl can cook better and a boy can clean the garage better, then efficiency is increased through comparativce advantage if the "genders" do their respective tasks. For centuries, many people have fought to promote this divide. The framers of our country painted a picture of women as the "republican mothers" who would promote democracy in bringing up their children, while the men would be actively involved in politics. In more recent times, women themselves have fought against the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution because if ratified, women feared that they would have to compete more with men in the workplace and receive less government help. But the the differnce in the gender divide today is that every individual has the opportunity to do what he or she desires. If a girl likes to fix cars, she is by no means barred form becoming a mechanic, and if a boy likes to cook, then nothing is stopping him from becoming a chef. All the opprtunities are there-- now only attitudes have to change.
This article makes a good point. My brother tends to do more hands-on chores like mowing the lawn or taking out the trash while I tend to do the dishes or vacuum more. I've never thought of this as gender biased, it just seemed like washing the dishes was easier than mowing the lawn. It does make sense though-girls follow their mothers around and are likely to pick up household chores, while boys take after their fathers in outdoor activities and handyman jobs. Also, it seems like girls whose mothers had full-time jobs would be less likely to stay at home themselves because they would have seen their mothers handling a job and household chores at the same time.
hey its jo!! where are you?? mrs swickard is seriously flipping out she misses you-are you ever coming back?
i think this is a good way to back up the fact that males make more cream for the same job. we do harder chores as kids. it makes sense. and girls are whining about "we dont get paid fairly" but considering u have to clean some dishes while we have to do manly things such as mow lawns, clean the pool, lift heavy objects it is completely fair. if girls wanna make the same cream as us, do some harder chores as a kid. thats wahts up.
Obnoxious, but it is an open forum. Lets not use slang that could be inappropriate.
I really can’t relate to this article because I am an only because I technically an only child. I have lived with my dad for about 15 years and it has just been him, my steep mom and me. When we moved out to East Hampton 10 years ago my mom had to work in the city and she still dose today. She lives out there for most of the week. So as you can see it has been just me and my Dad for the most part. And as a result of this I not only have had to do those jobs you get paid for, but also the jobs you don’t get paid for. I do all the house hold chores and it sucks. But I think the issue that his article touches a pone is a natural one. If you think about it the jobs that are mostly given to the boys like cutting the grass or acting as Mr. Fixit are jobs that are mostly done by men in the real world. Also, jobs that fall on the girls like washing the dishes or cleaning the house are jobs that the wife generally dose (even though you can get paid for this kind of work). It’s just natural. You look at any hose hold and it usually the woman doing the cooking, cleaning and dishes. Women aren’t told to do it they just do. And men well if they have a woman to do that work then they do all the more physical more technical jobs. Now I’m not saying that women can’t do that kind of work. And a man should help out with the more “feminine jobs” just to show some appreciation, because they dishes and cleaning and all those other jobs are no fun.” Any one can do any of the house hold jobs its just, over time they house hold chores have been chopped up and separated in to guy job and girl job. This is the way humans work. For the most part we separate the responsibilities what ever they may be so that those who can do one job better and faster do get the job done more efficiently. In the economic world they call this comparative advantage
Academics have studied Gender as a socially constructed concept. Whether differences are "natural" or biological, or "nutured" through the assignment of familial tasks (for example) in childhood forms attitudes and practices which play out in society at large. The major point that the researchers were looking at was if the actuality of "gendered wages"-women being paid 80 cents for each dollar men make in identical jobs- is formed at an early age.
This article makes sense. Although in my houe we dont really do "chores" occasionally my mom will make my brother like bring the garbage outside and when he complains she says "this isnt a job for girls". I got of nicely on that one being the only girl. The chores most kids are given makes sense because when they get older the jobs that they typically get coinside with the chores that they did as kids.
i think that what the article is pertaining to exists in many american households where women do the cleaning and washing and the men do other chores such as mowing the lawn and other such types of yardwork though i dont think that it is also present in the workplace i think that plces of enployment have begun to look at experience more aand the less experienced workers will start out doing the cleaning of dishes or other duties and gradually progress through the job ladder
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