Duffy makes reference to how cleaning, food, and laundry tasks are usually associated with women in a private household. However, she talks about how in a non domestic atmosphere these same tasks are not mostly female. Female domination of domestic duties, has been overruled by a majority of men. Duffy refers to the 1960's when domestic occupations for women were 57 percent while for men it reached 63 percent and throughout decades males became the majority. This observation shows that sex segregation of occupations have evolved in society, and have become less about gender and more about work and getting the job done.
LIVED DOMESTICITIES
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ReplyDeleteYes, this is point is sopported when Duffy says, "Gendered associations developed based on the location of the work, rather than the process of the labor"(123). The divide in the nurturant care field became more about a divide of class and race than gender.
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ReplyDeleteAny job related to cleaning in an enviorment different from homes are taken over mainly by men. Duffy mentions, "... the work of mostly male janitors is described as 'heavy' cleaning, and the work of mostly female maids is described as 'light' (Duffy 118). Because men are stronger and can handle heavy duty better than women, they predominate in these jobs.
ReplyDeleteIn connection to your statement that Duffy is making reference to how cleaning, food and laundry tasks are usually associated with women, I agree with this. Her anecdote about the man who was emptying trashcans and cleaning bathrooms is proof of this argument. A man made a comment stating ," He would make someone a great wife, don't you think?"(Duffy 117) to the man who was performing the cleaning tasks. This shows that there is a preconceived stereotype that jobs that require cleaning are something women do and are good at. I also believe this shows how unlikely men are to accept the reality that it is a task that can performed by a man or woman without poking fun at it.
ReplyDeleteIn Melindas statement about sex segregation she makes a clear indication that women have improved in the job field. In Duffys poem he states that at some point in time he would make someone the perfect wife, meaning he would make the woman he is married to the perfect house wife which is what a woman is stereotyped to be. No-a-days woman have been able to get higher jobs such as doctors and other high paying job, working against the stereotypes.
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