Care as a Common Good
2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/07491409.2008.10162529
ISSN2152-999X
Autores Tópico(s)Social Issues and Policies
Resumorecently unearthed an audiotape of my eleventh birthday. With the sound of boiling fondue popping in the background, my father interviewed me, asking about my sticker collection, the boy who passed me folded up notes at school, and my favorite song--Kenny Loggins's Caddy Shack theme, I'm Alright (Loggins). As a culminating centerpiece to the interview, my father asked: Sarah, what do you want to be when you grow up? Without a beat answered confidently, famous actress or singer. Dad, always a realist, responded, Well, yes, a lot of people might want to be famous, but if that doesn't work out, what would you like to be? paused, and answered in a decidedly less definitive tone, I might be a mother ... or a Twenty-six years later, how might we judge the accuracy of my prepubescent life predictions? In short, was partly right. am a teacher. am not a mother. As consider my subjective position as a childless, unmarried, white, serially monogamist, heterosexual, tenured associate professor at a research-intensive university, the lyrics of, I'm Alright, continue to swirl in my mind--sometimes as a statement of surrender, sometimes in response to real and imagined judgments from others, and as grow older, increasingly as a statement of affirmation and agency. Many times over the course of my thirty seven years, though, the lyrics have been punctuated with a question mark: Am alright? And if (and others) feel pulled between the demands of academic work and expectations/desires to be married and have children, then how might this dilemma best be addressed or managed? Female academics hold the highest rate of childlessness amongst professionals at 43% (Hewlett), and those who secure a tenure track job before having children are less likely than others to ever have children or get married (Mason and Goulden). So, has my job discouraged or prevented me from fulfilling the relational roles of wife and mother? teased out my own status and shared initial reflections with a handful of friends and colleagues, several who hold remarkably similar subject positions to my own. Through these initial reflections and conversations, a number of issues emerged. For instance, my girlfriends and discussed the heterosexual bias of our own concerns and the work-life discussion in general. Furthermore, we discussed the privileged status most academics hold in even having the choice to delegate care work and housework to others. To be afforded a forum like this one to discuss our work-life dilemmas is a luxury when we consider the significant concerns facing employees who do the undervalued and underpaid work of taking care of other peoples' babies, doing lawn work, or cleaning toilets. We talked about the role of geography as we have pursued committed relationships and good academic jobs. Women often trail men who go to graduate school and take academic jobs. Meanwhile, a man is much less likely to follow his female partner, even if she makes significantly more money (Hendershott). Our experiences echo existing research that suggests that when men do follow women, the relationships face significant challenges. Male partners become disenchanted and resentful as they struggle to find a job in the new location and face friend and family member reactions that suggest they are lazy and incompetent. Meanwhile, women trailblazers not only provide material financial support, but simultaneously report feeling guilty, managing reactions from others that they are cold and calculating, and face difficulty as they attempt to reassure and build their partners' identity (Hendershott). A third theme that emerged through our discussions was the devaluation of care work and the inequalities that come with marriage and children. Married women, on average, do much more housework then unmarried women. Baxter's study of cohabiting couples versus married couples concluded that It is not just the presence of a man that leads to [women] spending more time on housework . …
Referência(s)