Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2012, 13 (1): 3-11

The "Nanny" Question in Feminism

Joan Tronto

Are social movements responsible for their unfinished agendas? Feminist successes in opening the professions to women paved the way for the emergence of the upper middle-class two-career household. These households sometimes hire domestic servants to accomplish their child care work. If, as I shall argue, this practice is unjust and furthers social inequality, then it poses a moral problem for any feminist commitment to social justice.

Published: March 1, 2012Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Tronto, Joan. 2012. "The "Nanny" Question in Feminism." Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 13(1):3-11.
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Bakan, A. B., Stasiulis, D. (eds.). 1997. Not one of the family: Foreign domestic workers in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
    2. Bianchi, S., Milkie, M. A., Sayer, L. C., Robinson, J. P. 2000. "Is anyone doing the housework? Trends in the gender division of household labor." Social Forces, Vol. 79, No. 1: 191-228. Go to original source...
    3. Bubeck, D. E. 1995. Care, gender, and justice. New York: Oxford. Go to original source...
    4. Chang, G. 2000. Disposable domestics: Immigrant women workers in the global economy. Cambridge: South End Press.
    5. Colen, S. 1986. "With respect and feelings: Voices of West Indian domestic workers in New York City." Pp. 46-70 in Cole, J. B. (ed.). All American women: Lines that divide and ties that bind. New York: Free Press.
    6. Edwards, M. E. 2001. "Uncertainty and the rise of the work-family dilemma." Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 63, No. 1: 183-196. Go to original source...
    7. Folbre, N. 1993. Who pays for the kids? New York: Routledge.
    8. Fraser, N. 1989. Unruly practices: Power, discourse, and gender in contemporary social theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
    9. Friedan, B. 1963. The feminine mystique. New York: Norton.
    10. Gallagher, S. K., Gerstel, N. 2001. "Connections and constraints: The effects of children on caregiving." Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 63, No. 1: 265-275. Go to original source...
    11. Garey, A. I. 1999. Weaving work and motherhood. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
    12. Giles, W., Arat-Koç, S. 1994. "Introduction." Pp. 1-12 in Giles, W., Arat-Koç, S. (eds.). Maid in the market: Women's paid domestic labor. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
    13. Glenn, E. N., Chang, G., Forcey, L. R. (eds.). 1994. Mothering: Ideology, experience and agency. New York: Routledge.
    14. Gregson, N., Lowe, M. 1994. Servicing the middle classes: Class, gender and waged domestic labor in contemporary Britain. London, New York: Routledge.
    15. Hays, S. 1996. The cultural contradictions of motherhood. New Haven: Yale.
    16. Held, V. 1993. Feminist morality: Transforming culture, society, and politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    17. Heymann, J. 2000. The widening gap: Why America's working families are in jeopardy and what can be done about it. New York: Basic.
    18. Hochschild, A. R. 1989. The second shift. New York: Avon.
    19. Hochschild, A. R. 1997. The time bind: When work becomes home and home becomes work. New York: Metropolitan Books. Go to original source...
    20. Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. 1994. "Regulating the unregulated: Domestic workers' social networks." Social Problems, Vol. 41 (February): 50-64. Go to original source...
    21. Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. 2001. Doméstica: Immigrant workers cleaning and caring in the shadows of affluence. Berkeley: University of California Press. hooks, b. 1984. Feminist theory from margin to center. Boston, Mass.: South End Press.
    22. Hrdy, S. B. 1999. Mother nature: A history of mothers, infants, and natural selection. New York: Pantheon Books.
    23. Kittay, E. F. 1999. Love's labor: Essays on women, equality and dependency. New York: Routledge.
    24. Lareau, A. 2000. Contours of childhood: Social class differences in children's everyday lives. Berkeley: Center for Working Families, University of California, working paper no. 19.
    25. Luttwak, E. N. 1999. "Consuming for love." Pp. 51-64 in Rosenblatt, R. (ed.). Consuming desires: Consumption, culture and the pursuit of happiness. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
    26. Macklin, A. 1994. "On the outside looking in: Foreign domestic workers in Canada." Pp. 13-39 in Giles, W., Arat-Koç, S. (eds.). Maid in the market: Women's paid domestic labor. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
    27. Michel, S. 1999. Children's interests/mothers' rights: The shaping of America's child care policy. New Haven: Yale University Press.
    28. Milkman, R., Reese, E., Roth, B. 1998. "The macrosociology of paid domestic labor." Work and Occupations, Vol. 25, No. 4: 483-507. Go to original source...
    29. Okin, S. M. 1989. Justice, gender and the family. New York: Basic.
    30. Omolade, B. 1994. The rising song of African American women. New York: Routledge.
    31. Rollins, J. 1985. Between women: Domestics and their employers. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
    32. Romero, M. 1992. Maid in the U.S.A. New York: Routledge.
    33. Romero, M. 1997. "Who Takes Care of the Maid's Children?" Pp. 151-172 in Nelson, H. L. (ed.). Feminism and families. New York:Routledge.
    34. Ruddick, S. 1989. Maternal thinking: toward a politics of peace. Boston: Beacon Press.
    35. Schor, J. (ed.). 2000. Do Americans shop too much? Boston: Beacon.
    36. Schwartz, J. D. 1993. The mother puzzle: A new generation reckons with motherhood. New York: Simon and Schuster.
    37. Seiter, E. 1998. "Children's desires/mothers' dilemmas: The social contexts of consumption." Pp. 297-317 in Jenkins, H. (ed.). The children's culture reader. New York: New York University Press.
    38. Stone, D. 2000. "Why we need a care movement." The Nation (March 12): 13-15.
    39. Uttal, L. 1999. "Using kin for child care: Embedment in the socioeconomic networks of extended families." Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 61, No. 4: 845-857. Go to original source...
    40. Walker, M. U. 1998. Moral understandings: A feminist study of ethics. New York: Routledge.
    41. Walzer, M. 1983. Spheres of justice: A defense of pluralism and equality. New York: Basic Books.
    42. Wong, S. C. 1994. "Diverted mothering: Representations of caregivers of color in the age of 'multiculturalism.'" Pp. 67-93 in Glenn, E. N., Chang, G., Forcey, L. R. (eds.). Mothering: Ideology, experience and agency. New York: Routledge. Go to original source...
    43. Wrigley, J. 1995. Other people's children. New York: Basic.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content