I gave a teaser of my paper earlier this week, and some people have expressed interest. Of course, I won't post my paper here, but I have selected the most representative statement from the FOF website about work-family conflict (which is, apparently, only a woman's problem).
I'm too tired tonight to offer commentary. Let me know what you think.
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8 comments:
My jaw just dropped--though not as much as when you told me about the pro-teen pregnancy argument!
I know--I especially love the "black hole of exhaustion"--I made that the title of my paper.
My second favorite statement is that if the father doesn't help out, that's just how "the system" works. Too bad for mom.
The idea that the mother should carry all or most of the weight of childrearing and housekeeping seems out-dated, but as this article attests, the idea is very much alive and well and promoted by sources such as Focus on the Family. It makes me mad!
The statement about the "system" is also one of my faves. And I'm surprised to see that they condone sexual activity as part of the "fun" the the "black hole of exhaustion" obliterates. You mean it's okay to have sex that's not explicitly for baby making?
FOF's stance on sex is that it has two purposes--to make babies and to bring a married couple closer. Masturbation, which serves neither purpose, is seriously detrimental to a marriage. Dr. Dobson believes that it is important for a couple to have a good sex life and, as you read, uses it as an argument against mothers working outside the home. But the necessity of good sex is far more important to the man--in his books he makes the typical claim that for women sex is all about emotions and for men it's all about a physiological need for that particular kind of release.
Can't wait to see the Google searches that last comment turns up.
"My second favorite statement is that if the father doesn't help out, that's just how "the system" works. Too bad for mom."
Rhetoric of Inevitability. A real favorite in America. When used in tandem with passive language it can be particularly effective. Dobson would have been better off writing "if the mother doesn't receive help," thus further distancing fathers from their own choice in the matter.
Oh, how Harrogate loathes Dobson. It's actually unhealthy, the level of loathing.
I love how in the end he tries to make it sound like there's a choice, when clearly the rhetoric is leaning to Not a Choice.
"the system"!??! Gah!!!
Maybe El Papa should reconsider working that 15 hr day so that he doesn't stress out the family by dumping it all on Super Mom.
I would seriously be interested in reading yr paper. Could you email me a copy?
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