And how they illustrate the shittiness of capitalism and the patriarchy really well. Most of the job’s I’ve had have been in some way me doing another woman’s second shift (child care, beauty industry, sex work with a heavy focus on emotional labor) while the employer benefited from the product of my labor and gave me a tiny percentage of the value I’d produced back.
But, also because the employer is typically a woman, getting “paid” the value of a bunch of women doing second shift work, she’s usually getting paid for the value produced in a portion of her husband’s larger salary (which is in turn the value produced by a bunch of workers working under him, who get a tiny percentage of the value produced back, and also larger because he’s giving his wife a percentage of the value of her doing his second shift work has produced).
Does that make sense?
Like I am denied the comfort of the middle class woman who at least spends her time taking care of her own kids, sexually and emotionally dealing with her own husband, and keeping her own house clean, and the comfort of not having my own second shift waiting for me when I get home (thankfully D does not demand the second shift from me).
Like I’m having trouble expressing as thoroughly and accurately as I want to what sucks about this.
Thoughts From The Peacock Angel 