Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Nevilledog

(51,063 posts)
Thu Oct 28, 2021, 11:42 AM Oct 2021

Free Female Labor Is The Plan



Tweet text:
Jill Filipovic
@JillFilipovic
Why does anyone oppose paid family leave when it's so obviously beneficial for children, parents, and families? Because paid family leave increases gender equality. And that further erodes the male monopoly on power, money, and independence.

Free Female Labor Is The Plan
Paid family leave is out because male power and independence requires female subordination
jill.substack.com
5:09 PM · Oct 27, 2021


https://jill.substack.com/p/free-female-labor-is-the-plan

Thanks to Democratic-ish senator Joe Manchin, the United States will remain one of the only countries on the planet that does not offer paid leave to women who have just had babies, forcing new mothers — nearly all of them recovering from childbirth, which may involve major abdominal surgery — to either quit their jobs upon the birth of a child, or return to work while still in significant pain, and with a brand-new infant at home who needs round-the-clock care.

Greatest Country On Earth, right?

It’s hard to overstate how infuriating this is. Democrats have control of Congress and the White House for what may be the last time in many years. We are still in a pandemic that pushed millions of women, most of them mothers, out of the workforce or into part-time employment, an economic devastation that will reverberate for the rest of these women’s lives, and in the lives of these children. The women who dropped out or scaled back will see lower lifetime earnings. They will have less money in retirement. They are more vulnerable to domestic violence and financial coercion from a partner. They are more likely to live or wind up in poverty. Their children will lose out on all of the benefits that come from having a working mother, from greater financial stability to more success in school to more gender-equal homes when they grow up.

And other women suffer, too. When women are forced to drop out en masse because they have children and no help, the assumption builds that women are less reliable and loyal employees, and less worthy of investment and mentorship. We also know that men with stay-at-home wives are worse bosses — they are less likely to promote female employees, and less likely to pay them as competitively as they pay male ones.

Men broadly benefit. Women broadly lose. Men maintain power and enjoy the fruits of women’s free labor. Women remain dependent. That is the point.

*snip*


4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Free Female Labor Is The Plan (Original Post) Nevilledog Oct 2021 OP
Same reason teachers get screwed over again and again. Reader Rabbit Oct 2021 #1
100% accurate. Diamond_Dog Oct 2021 #2
I didn't know this, but it makes sense. CrispyQ Oct 2021 #3
more likely to get promoted to boss, too. mopinko Oct 2021 #4

Reader Rabbit

(2,624 posts)
1. Same reason teachers get screwed over again and again.
Thu Oct 28, 2021, 11:45 AM
Oct 2021

Those who do "womens' work" are expected to give their labor for free. Those who refuse are targeted as uncaring and subjected to emotional blackmail.

Diamond_Dog

(31,956 posts)
2. 100% accurate.
Thu Oct 28, 2021, 11:49 AM
Oct 2021

I can hear the right wing chorus now: “Don’t expect the nanny state to give you everything! Don’t have kids if you can’t afford them!”

CrispyQ

(36,446 posts)
3. I didn't know this, but it makes sense.
Thu Oct 28, 2021, 11:57 AM
Oct 2021
We also know that men with stay-at-home wives are worse bosses — they are less likely to promote female employees, and less likely to pay them as competitively as they pay male ones.

mopinko

(70,070 posts)
4. more likely to get promoted to boss, too.
Thu Oct 28, 2021, 12:01 PM
Oct 2021

my ex never has and never will admit that having a stay at home wife helped him up the ladder.
but trust me, it did.

i hadnt heard this either, but i believe it.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Free Female Labor Is The ...