WAGE Book Review
Review of Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About ItAuthor: Joan Williams
Press: Oxford University Press, 2000
Pages: 276
Price: $16.95
Joan Williams’ book Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It reframes the gender wage gap as discrimination. The book explores how domesticity, which Williams defines as "a gender system comprising most centrally of both the particular organization of market work and family work that arose around 1780, and the gender norms that justify, sustain, and reproduce the organization," structures work in today’s society. Williams questions the "choice" so that many women say they make, whether it is to stay at home with the kids or work full-time. That choice, she argues, is really no choice at all because work is currently structured in a way that discriminates against pregnant women and mothers. Williams contends that the "ideal worker" is one who can work at least full-time and not take any time off for childbearing or childrearing. It is assumed that the ideal worker is receiving support from a caregiver or someone at home who will take care of the kids and the laundry, cleaning and cooking. Caregivers are thus marginalized in our society by their inability to be "ideal workers." Williams argues that this hurts all women, men, and children. This book does more than identify the problem, however. Williams also offers suggestions for policymakers and litigators, which include restructuring the way work is organized by offering more flexible time and leave policies that do not hinder the ability to advance in a particular field. It is a great tool for anyone interested in reshaping the way society thinks about work so that men and women truly are given a choice.
- Jessica Copeland
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