Kathmandu, May 30: “Most women work a shift at the office or factory and a ‘second shift’ at home,” The Second Shift, a book by socialist Arlie Russell Hochschild with Anne Machung famously cites.
Originally published in 1989 and updated in 2012, the book examines the double burdens faced by working women in the United States.
But the recent study here in Nepal shows that this is not just a specific case in the United States. ‘The Second Shift’ continues to reflect the reality for working women especially the married and mothers across various fields- whether in journalism, politics or academia.
An academic gathering held here Friday was univocal on it. The event brought together journalists, academics, rights activists, and gender studies scholars.
The discussion themed “Challenges on Work-Life Balance of Women in Media and Politics” focused on the difficulties and quandaries women face in balancing professional and personal responsibilities, and how they strive to excel in their careers despite numerous impediments.
Drawing on two academic research studies, the participants highlighted that although women have increasingly entered the public sphere-be it journalism, politics or academia-the traditional household chores remain largely their responsibility. “This forces them to straddle professional obligations alongside domestic routines,” the gathering underscored.
“Society expects us to do everything: be great at work, take care of our families, and still to put together. It’s duress indeed,” one of the citations from the research work is sufficient to prove that how the women are pressurized to perform double shifts, becoming a ‘super woman’ at the cost of extreme time poverty, mental stress, fatigue, exhaustion and burnout by overlooking their personal needs.
According to a research focused on women journalists in mainstream media, women besides being obliged to be the performers of “second shift”, face numerous forms of gender-based discrimination and violence within newsrooms, finding additional challenges in balancing work life.
Expressing their concern over this situation, the participants argued that until over 50 percent of the population is continued to be undervalued in each aspect of the life, the goal to gender equality envisaged by the Sustainable Development Goals remains elusive.
“Women journalists feel underprivileged compared to their male colleagues, they perceive leadership as favoring men, with their ideas often going unheard and relegated. These women are not only deprived of fair pay but also suffer from delayed pay, fueling constant economic insecurity,” the research mentioned.
It further explores how family, media, society, and political leadership exploit women’s labour from home to workplace, undermining their presence and nipping in bud their roles in the public sphere.
Against this backdrop, they urge media institutions to invest more in women journalists, acknowledge their unique needs arising from biological and socially prescribed roles, and implement gender-sensitive policies.
In large, they demand that media houses mandatorily implement Gender Equality and Social Inclusion policies to ensure both the quality and quantity of women’s presence in the media.
Another research which is about women’s leadership in politics (local level) explores that women leaders at the local levels are over-burdened by household responsibilities and unable to actively take part in the regular meetings and enhance their understandings.
They have ‘no real say’ at the decision-making level; they have been compelled to work merely as subordinates and at the command of mayor or ward chair who are majorly men. Among them, the status of Dalit women members is more appalling. “The entire system is rigid against them.”
In her keynote speech on the research findings, Associate Professor Pushpa Ghimire referenced spillover theory, explaining that if one sphere-private or public-is unsupportive of women, negative impacts inevitably affect other fronts. She emphasized the need for positive and encouraging environments in both domains to ensure women’s meaningful and quality presence in the public life.
From an economic perspective, she argued that globalization and privatization require multiple earners per family for survival, yet women are still expected to fit domestic roles, leading to intra-role conflict. “Are women supposed to carry these overloads? Where do their human rights persist in this situation?” she questioned.
Founding mothers of gender studies, including Dr Mira Mishra, Dr Bindu Pokharel, Dr Meena Poudel, Santosh Giri Gurung, and Neera Shrestha, underlined the importance of research in interjecting feminist ideas within major academic disciplines.
According to Chief of the Department of Gender Studies, Jamuna Siwakoti Uprety, the event coinciding with the 7th National Women’s Rights Day aimed to create a pressure for mainstreaming gender discourses in academia through discourses, dialogues and sensitization. The programme was supported by the Sandhaann, an initiative to explore feminist perspectives.#nepal #public domain #rss
