Dear MEL Topic Readers,
'The extra shift': The unpaid emotional labour expected of women at
work
Displaying a genuine smile and nodding can convey warmth, sympathy, and
acceptance. But while empathy and compassion are essential to providing good care
work and customer service, these emotional factors are often not described in
job qualifications or praised in performance appraisals. In general, physically
demanding jobs like firefighters or construction workers are often considered male
jobs but emotionally sensitive jobs, such as care workers and kindergarten
teachers, are thought to be suitable for women. Are women more empathetic and
compassionate than men by nature? While there is no physical evidence to show
that women are better at performing such emotional labor than men, women are expected
to be inherently better than men. In reality, women are expected to perform such
emotional labor but are not compensated or rewarded for it. For example, while
male engineers are expected to show confidence and competency to keep the job
or advance, female engineers are expected to be considerate and compassionate
as well. Shouldn’t emotional labor valued more financially and professionally?
Read the article and learn about how emotional labor is undermined even in today’s workplaces.
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