The Second Shift, The Modern Family, and Modern Family
By: Sarah McDonough
Gender and Society Final Paper
Dr. Cline
Introduction & Objective Statement:
In The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home, Arlie
Hochschild, a professor of Sociology at University of California, Berkley, explains the
household responsibilities that a wife and mother takes care of, after working her paid
job, add up to at least 40-hours each week. Hochschild’s book and the sociological
principle assert that even if Mom and Dad both have careers outside of the home, the
household duties usually fall upon the Mother. Although it can be argued that we are
living in a modern era where the American family continues to evolve and women gain
more authority and influence outside of the home through their professions, traditional
household roles and responsibilities have remained remarkably stagnant. After reexamining the second shift principle and consulting related academic sources, newspaper
articles, survey results, and ABC’s hit family sitcom, Modern Family, it can be argued
that Hochschild’s 1989 definition of the second shift is still applicable to today’s
American household.
The objective of this paper is to examine the evolution of the second shift and
discover how this principle fits into our ever-changing society. It is important to critically
review and challenge the traditional roles of the Second Shift because they affect a wide
variety of American families. By consulting a combination of academic and popular
sources including doctoral dissertations, journals, publications by the American
Sociological Association, literature reviews, and op-ed articles, we can consider multiple
perspectives and gain a better understanding of how the Second Shift has both evolved
and remained. In addition to the literature review, it was important to conduct a brief
survey to gather data about the structure of the modern family and the second shift that
might still be prominent in American households. Finally, it is important to consider how
the Second Shift is portrayed in the media. By looking at Modern Family, an arguably
controversial sitcom aimed to challenge our ideas about the traditional American family,
we can see that while the show breaks the mold in several ways, it continues to reinforce
the idea that the mother is responsible for the second shift.
Literature Review:
In Paid Work, Parenting, and Housework: Gender Strategies and Myths, Phyllis
Moen makes the argument that, “Hochschild has made an important first step in
considering the complexities of the processes by which individuals forge a collective
family strategy, as husbands and wives negotiate and renegotiate the implicit contracts
between them” (Moen, 675). In The Second Shift, Hochschild explains that men and
women come into marriage with implicit “gender ideologies” which are expectations
about the appropriate marital roles for themselves and their spouse. Hochschild argues
that these expectations are a product of their own childhood experiences, habits, values,
and ideas about gender. Unfortunately, these preconceived notions do not always align
with economic and logistical demands of a modern marriage. In the face of matrimonial
turmoil, it is the wife who sacrifices her values and professional desires in order to save
her marriage.
We can see this act of sacrifice in the Holt household, Hochschild’s first case
study. The reader is introduced to Nancy, a successful social worker, and her husband, a
furniture salesman, and their demanding son, Joey. In her conversation with Houchschild,
Nancy describes herself as an egalitarian, and Evan professes support for sharing the
responsibilities of parenting and housework. In practice, Evan avoids his household
responsibilities and resists domestic chores that would significantly relieve his wife of
some of her second shift duties. Eventually, after several failed attempts to schedule
equal sharing of household chores, the couple agrees to an “upstairs/downstairs” plan.
This agreement means that Nancy shops, cooks, cleans, pays the bills, does the laundry
and most of the work of raising the child, while Evan deals with the car, the garage, his
hobby workshop and the family dog. Most poignantly to both the author and the reader,
the two have convinced themselves that this arrangement is fair. According to
Houchschild, “Even won on the reality of the situation, Nancy won on the cover story”
(Houchschild, 46). For Evan, caring for the dog became an obsession that eventually
parlayed itself into a substitute for a multitude of second shift chores. As for Nancy, she
repressed her feminist beliefs and career aspirations to take on the role of primary giver
to Joey and take care of the home. In addition to Nancy’s personal sacrifices, she also
conspired with Evan in the myth that since he was working harder outside the home, his
leisure time was more valuable than hers. In response to this, Hochschild writes,
“intricate webs of tension, and the huge, hidden emotional cost to women, men, and
children” (Houchschild, 59). After reviewing the Holt family’s domestic struggles and
consulting New York Times columnist, Robert Kutter’a article, She Minds the Child, He
Minds the Dog, we can see that the second shift can place strain upon the modern
American family.
Aside from adhering to traditional household roles and following the family
format displayed by the generations proceeding us, it can be argued that another reason
the second shift is still so steadfastly enforced is related to principles of masculine
identity. In the article A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles, the author, M.P. Dunleavy
challenges the reader to consider a household in which the wife is the main or sole
proprietor. She argues that if the wife is playing the role of the C.F.O of the household,
she should not be required to single-handedly preform all of the second shift duties too.
We learn the number of households where the wife is the sole earner jumped from four
percent to over seven percent between 1970-2000 and continues to climb rapidly. We
also need to consider the 2003 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics which indicated
that about one third of wives earned more than their husbands. With these numbers in
mind, Dunleavy asks, “If men could provide for their wives and families, as they have
traditionally in many cultures, why shouldn’t women feel just fine about assuming that
role themselves?” (Dunleavy, 1) According to Barbara Risman, a professor of sociology
at the University of Chicago, “That is partly because men have a sense of esteem, of
identity that comes with being the provider, women don’t get the same identity benefit —
there’s a sense that one has a double burden.” (Dunleavy, 1).
This crisis has been the cause of frustration for men and women alike. While
some men might feel insecure or inadequate about contributing less on the financial
forefront, there is a possibility that many still feel uncomfortable about taking on
alternative roles at home to compensate. According to Ronald F. Levant, editor of
Psychology of Men and Masculinity, when it comes to gender progress, “men are stuck”.
We can assume that men remain sedentary because are conditioned to embrace traditional
masculine identities by their families, their cultural backgrounds, and our generally
patriarchal society. From a woman’s perspective, many feel frustrated that financial
power hasn’t created the balance they were hoping for and they are still working the
second shift. According to Michael Kimmel, author of Guyland, in the last 40 years,
women have challenged the status quo by saying, “Wait a minute, we are competent and
assertive and ambitious” and claiming a wider range of roles outside of their domestic
domains. This once again validates the argument that although women are moving
forward and gaining momentum in the workplace, they are still confined to traditional
roles at home.
The Modern Family:
After reviewing several sources, I decided to survey ten Butler students to gain a
more personal understanding of the second shift and if it has evolved over time all while
discovering how my peers view this principle. As I mentioned in my class presentation, I
wanted to interview students who grew up in stereotypically traditional households. More
specifically, I wanted survey students whose parents were still married. After providing
my audience with the necessary background knowledge concerning the second shift, I
asked them to consider their own household. By asking the simple question, “Do your
family members, namely your mother and father, follow the traditional roles highlighted
in the second shift?” The responses were fascinating. Seven out of ten students reported
that both of their parents worked outside of the home. Of these seven, six of them
admitted that it was their mother who preformed almost all of the second shift duties. The
six students who reported these behaviors explained that even though their mothers and
fathers get home after work around the same time everyday, it is their mother who
expected to make dinner, manage the household, and tend to the children’s varying needs.
As for weekend duties, each student also reported that while their mother ran errands and
cleaned the house, their father usually worked outside. One of my students was blatantly
honest throughout her interview; she admitted that although the burden of the second
shift fell exclusively on her mother, no one in her family made any effort to lighten the
workload. She explains, “My mom does everything. She runs the errands after work and
on the weekends, cooks dinner every night, keeps up with the laundry, and cleans the
house. Even though it's not fair, my dad, my brother, and myself have come to expect this
from her and don't do much to alleviate her second shift responsibilities. This really
drives my mom crazy.” As for the one student whose parents split the second shift
responsibilities, she explained that her father is responsible for cooking dinner during the
week while her mother is responsible for running errands. As for the weekend, she
explains that the entire family is expected to clean the house, work in the yard, and help
with dinner. As for the three remaining students, they unanimously explained that their
mothers stayed at home and were exclusively responsible for the second shift. By
comparing and contrasting my student’s responses, I was able to gain a better
understanding of how the second shift affects the modern American family. It can be
argued that the results of my survey further prove that although society is always
changing and we see the family unit constantly evolving, the responsibilities of the
second shift continue to fall upon the mother. According to Old Fashioned Families as
an Endangered Species, this lack of development, or change is common because:
“Studies of changes in familial roles, life-course characteristics, and structure often
depend on retrospective data to measure change over time, or less than national sample to
infer nationwide trends” (Smith, 18) Ultimately, this is proving that the American family
is not only slow to change, but oftentimes modeled after past ideals and practices.
Modern Family:
ABC’s Modern Family follows three interconnected families—Jay Pritchett, his
daughter Claire Dunphy, and son Mitchell Pritchett. Jay and his much younger,
Colombian wife Gloria raise her teenage son, Manny from a previous marriage, and their
baby, Joseph Claire and Phil Dunphy have three children of their own, Haley, Alex, and
Luke. The final family includes Mitchell, his partner Cameron Tucker and their adopted
Vietnamese daughter, Lily. The show adheres to the formulaic structure of domestic
sitcoms as it follows each of the families throughout the trials and tribulations of raising
children, maintaining strong relationships, and being a family. Although the show has
broken the mold in many ways, after watching a few episodes, it becomes apparent that
the gender roles with in the family structure remain very traditional. This includes the
stereotypical portrayal of the second shift. Throughout the show, we see Gloria, Claire,
and Cameron all take on more nurturing, maternal roles. It becomes quite evident that
these characters are the backbone of their households and without them their families
would be unable to function. According to Today’s ‘Modern Family’: A Textual Analysis
of Gender in the Domestic Sitcom, “Claire, Gloria, and Cam’s characters can easily be
replaced by housewives from 1950s sitcoms without causing much disruption to the
show” (Starieck, 30). The author, Nicole Starieck argues that these stay-at-home parents
place their families’ needs above all else. She also points out that they are the parent
most devoted to their children’s well being. With this being said, it becomes clear that
most of the child-rearing duties are placed upon the mother figure that is also in charge of
cooking, cleaning, planning family functions, and running everyday errands. Starieck
goes on to explain that this present-day sitcom not only reverts back to traditional
practices but also enforces stereotypical second shift roles, but also communicates to
audiences that it is normal for the mother figure to take on a majority of the household
duties. Starieck writes, “Through further embedding this ideology in our culture, the
nurturing and self-oriented mother figure seems natural to audiences and creates an
expectation for all mothers to act accordingly” (Starieck, 49).
In the episode Hit and Run, we see a new side of Claire Dunphy as she decides to
run for town council. After a run in with a particularly irritating town council member,
Claire decides that she is fit to run in the upcoming election. Upon second thought, Claire
worries that her family is not ready for this big change. In one particular scene, we see
Claire expressing these concerns to her husband Phil, who reassures her that the house
will not fall apart without her. During this scene, Phil even makes a joke about the
situation, hinting that Claire takes on too many responsibilities alone. He says, “Wow
honey, it must be so hard being a single mother having to do it all. Oh, wait, you’re not,
you have me to support you and help out around the house when you’re not here.” While
this shows that Phil is eager to help his wife, it also further proves that the second shift
responsibilities are foreign to him and always fall upon Claire. Later on in the episode,
while Claire is announcing her candidacy, we see Phil struggling to manage the house.
First, he accidentally injures his son, Luke while trying to assist him in first aid. As Luke
tells Phil to stop trying to help him, we learn that Alex, the middle child is having an
allergic reaction. In response to Alex’s minor health crisis, Phil quickly gives her
medicine to stop the reaction. Moments after Alex takes the medicine, she quickly
realizes her father gave her the wrong dose. In this short sequence, we can see that Phil is
not only overwhelmed but also, arguably incapable of taking care of his children without
his wife’s assistance. Once again we see that the mother figure, in this instance, Claire, is
primarily responsible for the second shift duties and when absent, the family struggles to
function properly. With all of this in mind, it can be argued that even a show titled
Modern Family remains shockingly traditional in many ways.
In The Second Shift, Arlie Houchschild wrote, “Many women cut back what had
to be done at home by redefining what the house, the marriage and, sometimes, what the
child needs. One woman described a fairly common pattern: I do my half. I do half of his
half, and the rest doesn't get done” (Houchschild, 250). In a few sentences, Houchschild
captures the most essential aspect of the second shift principle. At the end of a long day at
work, far too many household responsibilities fall upon the wife and mother. After
consulting several academic and popular sources as well as survey results and ABC’s
sitcom, Modern Family, it can be argued that unfortunately, twenty-five years later
Houchschild’s second shift principle still remains prominent in American homes.
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