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Start the Week

Wages for Housework – then and now

Feb 10, 2025
In this engaging conversation, historian Emily Callaci shares insights from her book on the Wages for Housework movement, emphasizing its relevance today. Professor Rosie Campbell discusses alarming trends in public attitudes towards feminism, particularly among young men. Writer Victoria Smith critiques the kindness trend, arguing it undermines women's roles. Together, they explore persistent household labor inequalities, generational shifts in gender perceptions, and the need for structural changes in social justice, urging continued advocacy rather than complacency.
41:37

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • The historical campaign for wages for housework emphasizes the systemic oppression of women through traditional notions of unpaid domestic labor.
  • Contemporary pressures for women to embody kindness may undermine feminist progress by enforcing passive roles that distract from addressing systemic inequalities.

Deep dives

The Legacy of Housework and Gender Inequality

The historical roots of the campaign for wages for housework emphasize that housework has been a significant site of women's systemic oppression within the capitalist framework. Studies indicate that despite considerable societal changes over the past five decades, traditional gender divisions in household labor persist, with women often taking on the majority of domestic responsibilities. Recent surveys show that even in dual-income households, women typically report spending four to eight more hours on housework compared to their male partners, exacerbating overall gender inequality. The movement's recognition of housework as labor critical to the economic system reveals the essential but often unacknowledged contributions of women, suggesting that addressing these inequalities could have far-reaching implications for societal transformation.

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