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Assigning care
Badgett, M. V. Lee Folbre, Nancy
Badgett, M. V. Lee
Folbre, Nancy
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Abstract
"Gender norms governing interpretation of appropriate behavior for women and men are closely linked to socially constructed concepts of familial altruism and individual self-interest. [...] This article offers an interdisciplinary analysis of the relationship between caring labour, social norms and economic outcomes, and explores some of the ways in which this relationship may be modified by the process of capitalist development. [...] We need to remind ourselves that there are alternatives between the devil and the deep blue sea. We can reassign responsibilities for care. We can forge a new social contract that shares responsibilities for care between men and women. We can develop new gender norms that balance strength with tenderness, autonomy with connectedness, money with love. We could even refuse to marry, partner with (or even date) individuals who specialize in one side of these dualism at the expense of the other. But we will also have to address the basic dynamics of global capitalism. The only way to support and protect caring work is to reduce the pressures of paid employment on family life, to impose strict quality standards on the provision of market care, and to foster the development of new levels of skill and commitment among paid care workers. Rather than binding women’s feet, we could bind capitalism to its domestic responsibilities and restrict it to its proper, limited sphere.", p. 311, 324
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1999
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With permission of the license/copyright holder