It’s no secret that women are used to doing the hard yards, whether it be in workplace or at home. So when it comes to doing emotional labor in relationships, you can expect that women are usually the ones picking up the slack.
Emotional labour is something many women experience, yet it still remains a topic of contention among most couples. But, what actually is emotional labour?
Emotional labour can mean several things, however, it is commonly used to describe the mental load women have to take on and the process of mentally managing one’s feelings and expressions to fulfil the emotional requirements of a job – whether that be at work or within one’s own household.
Sure, your husband did the dishes once you asked him to, but that still required you realising there were dishes to be done and delegating a task. The list goes on.
The phrase ’emotional labour’ has existed for decades so why are we only just hearing about it now? Talk about emotional labour gained traction last year after an article a journalist, wife and mother wrote went viral, dubbing emotional labour, “the unpaid job men still don’t understand.”
In the second episode of marie claire x The Thinkergirls‘ podcast series, Stacey June and Kristie Mercer sit down to tackle the topic of emotional labour head-on, from what emotional labour personally means to them to how millennials and new relationships are redefining the way the dynamic works.
Listen here:
