美国国家公共电台 NPR--Changing the gender imbalance in housework may start with how we understand time

Changing the gender¹ imbalance in housework may start with how we understand time

Transcript²

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

If you walk into a house where a man and a woman live and you ask - who's making dinner? - the answer is usually the woman. OK, if a man does the housework in your home, no need to rise up in protest. I see you. But a 2020 Gallup poll finds that women still handle the majority of the domestic workload³ in this country. The solution to this imbalance may start with a better understanding of time. Here's Andee Tagle of NPR's Life Kit⁴.

ANDEE TAGLE, BYLINE⁵: While research shows men are taking on more child care and housework than ever before, women continue to perform more physical and emotional labor⁶ in their families, irrespective of age, income or workloads⁷. Sometimes called the mental load or the second shift, this is a phenomenon Eve Rodsky attributes to a fundamental mishandling of time.

EVE RODSKY: As a society, we've chosen to view and value men's time as if it's diamonds and finite. And we've chosen to value women's time as if it's infinite like sand.

TAGLE: Rodsky is an attorney, activist⁸ and author of the bestselling book "Fair Play," which centers around closing the gender gap in domestic labor. She says you have to start with the belief that everyone's time is created equal, whether you bring home the bacon or cook it or both.

RODSKY: Everybody around you just gets 24 hours in a day. And if you love them and you want to build a partnership⁹ with them, you have to value their time as equal to your time.

TAGLE: But that can be harder to do than you think. There are a lot of toxic¹⁰ time messages out there, says Rodsky. Consider the phrase time is money. Maybe you're a woman who feels obligated to do more at home because you bring home less pay or your job is more, quote-unquote, "flexible."

RODSKY: We have a pay gap in this society. And what is even more ironic¹¹ is that when women outearn their partners, they still do more unpaid¹² labor.

TAGLE: Or have you ever had 5,000 items on your to-do list, but instead of asking for help, you say something along the lines of, I'll just do it myself, it's easier that way?

RODSKY: Oh, my God, that's the worst one. By continuing to keep doing it yourself, you will have to do it yourself for the rest of your life.

TAGLE: Trust me, I could keep going here. But what this all comes down to is that far too often, we undervalue the time spent keeping a home afloat. Either we expect someone else to magically find the time for housework. Or we fail to budget for or acknowledge the time all this work takes up in our lives at all. When labor is invisible...

RODSKY: It's very hard to value it.

TAGLE: Visibility is value. So instead of just giving your partner an assignment or a grocery list, invite them to take an active role in the conception of the family calendar. Ask for buy-in for the bake sale. Encourage them to take the lead with that extended family group chat. And once you better understand the mental load, voice that value where you see it.

RODSKY: And so this can mean, oh, my God, I had no idea, 'cause I've never picked the kids up from school, that you have to wait in a carpool line for an hour. I recognize that what you're doing is labor. And I want to help share that labor with you.

TAGLE: Another tip to help even out the scales - establish regular check-ins to keep things running smoothly¹³ and avoid miscommunication. Find a time and style that works for you. Then be consistent.

RODSKY: That type of high-cognition, low-emotion conversation, whether it's five minutes a day on a daily basis, being able to check in about the next day and communicate, that was the big throughline for success.

TAGLE: When household labor is shared fairly, everyone can free up more time for what Rodsky calls unicorn¹⁴ space.

RODSKY: You are more than just your roles as a parent, partner or professional. Unicorn space is really the space to be consistently interested in your own life, to recognize that you deserve permission to be unavailable from those roles.

TAGLE: For NPR's Life Kit, I'm Andee Tagle.

(SOUNDBITE OF SENSIBLE SOCCERS' "AFG")

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

4 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 workloads   

（某一人或组织）工作量，工作负担( workload的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Project management software can provide such visibility into everyone's skills and workloads. 项目管理软件可以提供这样的能见度到每个人的技能和工作量。
• Doctors have complained of heavy workloads. 医生投诉工作越来越繁重。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

11 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

12 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

13 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

14 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。