Word: houseworkers
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...Hochschild never says whether any legitimate reasons exist for an unequal distribution of housework. Is 50-50 the only just solution? Is it necessarily the happiest under all situations? Should couples automatically feel guilty if the sharing sometimes cannot be perfect...
Second Shift also falters when Hochschild's personal prejudices color her descriptions of the couples she observes. She tends to ascribe nefarious subconscious motives to minor actions that aren't necessary to prove her overall point. For example, when a husband in the study made a joke about housework, she accuses him of denying the problems in his home. (In fact, he did deny them, but not because of the joke.) At worst, Hochschild chastises a father as a bad parent for refusing to do a "camel walk" with his baby...
Hochschild views the family through the narrow lens of the second shift, failing to address factors other than housework that may be just as likely to cause marital discord. These other factors--such as domestic violence--seem to be more important for the poor families in the study than the rich ones...
Poor couples also seem more hesitant to acknowledge conflict over the second shift, although Hochschild demonstrates its importance in their marriages. It might seem that conflicts over housework and child-rearing would be more intense for those families which must do without baby-sitters and maids. But Second Shift does not deal with this discrepancy...
When I interviewed Hochschild, she said that barriers that appear to be made of concrete are really made of sand. Envisioning "pro-family" changes in the American economy, she thinks more men will begin to share housework fairly and rationally...