They’re work, but they’re optional. The original context of “emotional labor” is that it’s a catch-22: you have to be nice on the job while living with the terror of knowing that if you AREN’T nice, you could get fired. There are real, material consequences. If your personal relationships carry those kinds of…
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I’ve seen folks on Twitter insist on “emotional work”, but the difference between “work” and “labor” is so academically wonky that it’s pretty useless in colloquial, every day use. Also, when I’ve tried to explain the experience to more clueless/entitled individuals, “work” is somehow easier to brush off than “labor.”
I think it’s also important to remember that 10-12 years ago, no one was available for constant texting, Facebook messaging, or video chatting. We’re now all suddenly supposed to be expected to drop everything for anyone the moment they reach out through any channel (and there are many!).
I think the issue here is solely semantics. A phrase was created to speak to a very specific phenomenon, so when used to describe other things it doesn’t fit. Always happens with words outside of academic use. That being said, SO MUCH OF OUR SOCIETY IS BUILT AROUND CAPITALISM AND CAPITAL that to find a useful phrase…
On the one hand, it IS good to check in with people before you’re about to dump something on them. It feels like an ambush sometimes when someone just dumps a bunch of heavy emotional stuff when you aren’t in a position to handle it or respond. If someone just woke up or is running late, they’re not going to be in a…
It sounds like the original term might have been more precise if it were “emotional capitalism,” because that makes it clear that it refers to the emotional labor that is performed for money. The terminology wasn’t right from the beginning and it makes a lot more sense in its broad application now. The idea that you…
Yeah, why are jeans so popular?? They’re not universally flattering, they’re often not particularly comfortable, most of them are not particularly durable (because I’m too broke to buy good jeans). And yet they’re like the only pants option we have unless you want to be Fancy or Extra. How have they become so…
I just had an abortion this past Friday at 21 weeks. I had to cancel multiple appointments because I didn’t have the money & my Veterans Administration insurance doesn’t cover abortions. The amazing women at Planned Parenthood quickly arranged funding for my procedure but then I couldn’t go because I’d just gotten a…
I work like 2 blocks away, I knew it was there (mainly because of the protesters) but had no idea it was the only abortion clinic in the state. The good news is there are some people out there fighting to keep the government out of women’s bodies in the state. There’s a couple of billboards along the interstate that…
Relevant:
Thank you for this article. The Women’s Clinic saved my life when I was a teenager and miscarrying. My sister and I would’ve been off far worse had it not been for them.
The Women’s Health Center in Charleston, West Virginia is an unassuming, single-story beige brick building in a…
I took it that way because she said she wanted to make sure this specific author wasn’t selected. It came off as very snooty.
Thank you! I didn’t appreciate, “This author is good enough for teen girls but not my thing,” implying teenage girls have low standards. I wouldn’t complain about it or run to Twitter, but I didn’t think it was cool either. A shrug is the biggest response from me.
This whole thing was a classic example of peak white feminism (TM)
And after that tweetstorm, it is probably a very necessary grudge that has expanded to include Picoult and Weiner as well.
“Inclusion absolutely matters, in the classroom and outside the classroom, but yelling at a single woman with absolutely no sway in the publishing or academic worlds, is not the way to get it.”
The problem with this is the power difference. Bestselling, millionaire authors with large fan bases are attacking an unknown college student and pretending the criticism actually hurts them in any real way. It doesn’t.
Eh... I don’t know. While I don’t think it’s a “gotcha” question, I do think that it is a question that involves some thought. I think I would have been more offended if her pat response was MLK Jr. or Jesse Jackson or some shit like that because they are names that are low hanging fruit, so to speak. I think her…