According to Hochshild the "Second Shift" is "shopping, cooking, paying bills; taking care of the car, the garden, and yard." The first shift is actually holding a job or career where one is paid, but the second shift represents doing an equal amount of hard work without being paid. Parents come home and take on even more responsibilities that they must care for on top of their 9 to 5.
Nancy and Evan have a complicated married. Though they both work full time jobs, their home life posses more of an issue for them than their professional careers. They also have a son, Joey, which adds more stress to their situation. Their main issue is evening out the workload that comes with being homeowners and parents. Nancy explains that she wished her husband would do more around the house while Evan feels that everything is taken care of by Nancy, and his help is not necessary. Furthermore, Evan feels no need to be a significant father in Joey's life because he complains that Joey does not even care to be with him and that Nancy has control over raising Joey.
The family myth that was explained in the text was that Nancy took care of the "upstairs" and Evan took care of the "downstairs". This meant that Nancy took care of the kitchen, bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms, and so on, while Evan took care of such things as the car, the garage, places for storage, and the family dog, Max. This idea was that the labor was split somewhat fairly, with each partner doing their part to better the family.
The purpose of the family myth is to make partners to feel as if they are doing equal work, when they really are not. Couples draw the line that one will take care of the downstairs while the other will take care of the upstairs, knowingly that the upstairs is a constant job, and the downstairs is a much easier task. It is basically a cop out for both the wife to feel that her husband is doing equal work and the husband to feel that he is offering an equal amount to the family as well.
I did not find their article surprising at all. We grow up in a society where we mock the days where men asked their wives to make them sandwiches on a dime, when our generation is very similar. I do not see this first hand in my house though, because my mother and father have somewhat of equality in the house. While they generally take gender specific roles, my father always cooks while my mother always does some yard work. I feel like they are good role models for me to take after when I get married at the ripe age of 40, and not a day sooner. I plan to be in my childrens lives as much as possible because they are such a significant part of ones life. It's wild to me fathers don't talk to thier kids and stand clear of them.
