Liberalism, Feminism, and the Gendered Division of Labour

Abstract

Abstract Most feminists have argued that the gendered division of labour, according to which men specialise in career and paid employment while women specialise in unpaid domestic and care work, is a profound instance of gender injustice. Many liberals have argued that, even if the gendered division of labour creates and sustains inequality, it is essential to protect people’s ability to choose the family structure that works best for them. On this issue, feminists and liberals seem to be in stalemate. This chapter argues that the solution to the gendered division of labour is not to elevate paid employment above unpaid carework, as a liberal perspective tends to do. Instead, the solution starts with recognising that the gendered division of labour depends upon the systematic, enduring devaluation of care and domestic work and proceeds by resisting that devaluation. In this context, the injustice of the gendered division of labour cannot be solved by pushing mothers into paid employment. For the gendered division of labour truly to be undermined, women must be valued for what they do, including care and domestic work.