Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy. I'm Amy McPhee All the Best. What comes to your mind when you think of the

women's liberation movement of the 1970s? Maybe black and white photos of women's marches led by

Gloria Steinem, a battle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. For me, what comes to mind is the backlash

to the 1950s cult of domesticity where so many women

were kept financially dependent and infantilized by prohibiting them from working outside the home.

The Women's Liberation Movement promised women better lives through participation in the

workforce and earning their own wages. And work they did. Drove's of women began careers.

Catherine Graham became the CEO of the Washington Post in 1972, the first woman to lead a

Fortune 500 company. And then the Mary Tyler Moore show portrayed a young working woman as its

protagonist. And indeed, working outside the home did bring women more financial security,

more independence, and more personal growth. But soon, women began to notice something.

Once they got married, and for this conversation, we're going to talk about women married to men,

and especially once women had children, they were exhausted, like bone tired, and somehow not feeling

all that liberated in their real daily lives. Sociologist Arlie Haaschild decided to figure out what

was going on, and she conducted research in the 70s and 80s that resulted in the classic text,

The Second Shift, Working Parents and the Revolution at Home, which was

published in 1989. She identified that all across society, regardless of race or class or culture,

women who worked outside the home came home to a whole other work shift, taking care of the

house and the children nearly single-handedly while their husband spent

the evening hours in leisure. Only women were working the second shift, and it wasn't fair.

As I'm sure you've heard or possibly experienced in your own life, this problem has not been

solved between 1989 and now, and in fact, it's still a huge issue.

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