Habit is something that is associated with repetitiveness and routine, and is ‘ingrained’ (pg 26). However, whilst habit may appear as a natural occurrence, postmodern theory dictates that the habitual must be handled with ‘critical vigilance’ (pg 27). On the other hand, Felski states that, according to Heller, routine and habit is a prerequisite for survival. It is something that is essential for ‘impulse and innovation’ (pg 27). She reaffirms that the everyday, according to feminist perspective, is a gender issue; with one line of feminism portraying everyday as the means in which ‘gender hierarchy is reproduced’ (pg 30), and another conversely stating that it is a ‘source of value’ and strength (pg 30).
Felski therefore provides a broad narrative from traditional, feminist, postmodern and phenomenological theory. Her methodical explanation of these definitions of everyday life is thorough and at the same time she questions them by providing counter arguments. One of Felski’s conclusions is that by romanticising everyday life and associating it as a women’s issue detracts from the fact that men also live ‘repetitive, familiar and ordinary lives