In 2020, an analysis by Oxfam discovered the staggering number that is the value of a one year of American women’s “shadow labor": $10.9 trillion. A New York Times opinion piece on this report reminds us what happens when this unpaid, yet essential, labor (time spent doing routine housework, shopping for necessary household goods, child care, tending to the elderly and other household or non-household members, and other unpaid activities related to household maintenance) is withheld:
"On Oct. 24, 1975, 90 percent of Icelandic women refused to cook, clean or look after children for a day. It brought the whole nation to a standstill. Men across the country scrambled to fill in, taking their children to work and overwhelming restaurants."
Think about it: in wealthy families and every brick and mortar business in the country, this labor, including childcare, is usually outsourced (and overwhelmingly to women). When these crucial workers go home and perform the same labor for their households, the story changes. The completion of identical tasks then becomes unpaid.
There are many books about this subject and its impact on society, culture and economics, of course. Since time immemorial, so too has there been visual art depicting aspects of culturally gendered work. Helena Wurzel, who tells us she spends "a lot of time cutting up fruit for my family", makes paintings to tell stories about the lives of women, rooted in the concept of personal narrative and inherently tied to the feminine realm. Work such as Wurzel's calls us to reflect on the beauty, dignity, and deep value that goes into these "quiet moments of daily living".
Walk and Talk
