Healing ourselves, healing our economy: paid work, unpaid work, and the next stage of feminist economic transformation

Abstract

This article presents a broad overview of U.S. economic history which identifies a next stage of feminist economic transformation. It identifies three semihistorical stages in the development of the economic self: gender polarization, gender freedom, and gender integration. 1 Contemporary economic values, practices, and institutions–which were constructed on gender polarization between masculine paid economy-centered work and feminine unpaid family-centered work–are currently being undermined by the process of gender integration as individuals of both sexes straddle economy and family, masculinity and femininity, and as social movements organize to inject feminine caring into an increasingly heartless masculine economy. This process is leading to the healing of individuals, male-female relationships, and economic and social institutions, constituting a revolutionary new stage of feminist-inspired change.