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I'm getting lost in Joan William's book, Reshaping the Work-Family Debate. I don't fully understand or have the prior knowledge of different types of feminisms. I can't seem to understand William's critiques and proposition of reconstructive feminism. I am simply absorbing everything I am reading from her book. I mostly agree with everything she is saying, but I feel I need to be more critical when reading just because that's what a scholarly student does! I haven't been able to accomplish this though. I feel lost.
Essentialism has many issues because it makes gender roles seem natural. And eventually, we are left with the thought: Why change the workplace if women don't want to be there? This is problematic as people may feel there is no need to improve the workplace. Women do not want to work since it is a masculine place. Essentialism overlooks the issues of masculinity in the workplace.
How else do we need to frame our questions in order to understand the work-family debate?
What is Reconstructive Feminism?
Williams proposes a new way of shaping the workforce: "The first calls for eliminating the ideal-worker norm in market work; the second calls for eliminating the ideal-worker norm in family entitlements. The third calls for changing the ways we talk about gender" (4).
And then what...?
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