From The Frying Pan Into The Fire Analysis

What does the middle-class family look like in the twenty-first century? Probably both men and women are working in order to make money to support families. Women’s gender roles have changed significantly within fifty years. Because of Capitalism, women now have more rights than before, and some women now make more money than men. Capitalism combines the principle efficiency and the aim for profit, which presents as the more money one person can make shows the ability this person maintain. In “From the Frying Pan into the Fire,” Hochschild introduces the idea of capitalism, and capitalism is competing with the family values as people show their love to families through the amount of money they make, instead of the amount of time they spend
In Hochschild’s article, she describes the Instant Quaker Oats cereal advertisement. In this advertisement, the mother makes the breakfast for her son within ninety seconds. This provides the mother more time to work and make money. The advertisement indicates that women are jumping from the frying pan of patriarchy into the fire of capitalism by taking care of their growing children and working at the same time. Hochschild argues that capitalism is “a cultural system as well as an economic system and that the symbols and rituals of this cultural system compete with” (187). The economic system requires people to work and earn profit, and the cultural system emphasizes that family members should spend time together. Due to capitalism, there exists a continuing competition between the home and the workplace. The principle of efficiency is accomplishing tasks in the least amount of time, and this idea exists both at work and at home. Efficiency exists everywhere because people want more income, and as a result, women’s gender roles have changed significantly. Both men and women need to work and earn money in order to live in the ideal civil society they desire. For example, the American Dream causes people to imitate and envy others. Women’s roles in civil society are not only giving birth to children or
In Flammang’s article, she introduces the idea of reciprocity, which is how you treat others and how others treat you. Flammang also lists facts that show women are treated unequally compared to men. “Most employed women face the double duty of work for pay, and responsibility for food preparation” (123). In the past, people had believed that the traditional job of a woman was taking care of family, while men were working outside to make money or protect their country. Due to the idea of reciprocity, society has to treat females more equally, which leads to civil society; and there are more men and children willing to help women deal with household chores. There are some efforts that to reduce people’s working hours, and exist “over the last one hundred years, the U.S. labor movement has successfully fought to reduce the workday from twelve to ten to eight hours” (127). People are fighting to spend more time with family members and to enjoy the moment that all members are working together to help. According to Hochschild “for everyone-men, women, and children-to go back to the kitchen, as in preindustrial days, and for the workplace to lessen its time demands on people”(127). Hochschild believes the same idea. She suggests, “male sharing of care at home, family friendly workplace policies, and social honor associated with care-that make the