1. Consider what audience this piece was written for. What assumptions does Ehrenreich make about this audience?
I believe that Ehrenreich's intended audience is for those people who never really think about low-wage work or the people who hold these jobs that are living paycheck to paycheck. She assumes that many of these people do not know what it is like to struggle to make ends meet. Many of the intended audience probably never had money problems and do not know what it is like to hold a job that requires hard work combined with long hours for little money. Ehrenreich does not only target males who look at housework as a woman's job but also women who are working in high income jobs. The last sentence of the last paragraph states that feminists of generations before Ehrenreich tried to shed light on this problem of the "old-fashioned sense of labor" but they too got caught up in their busy professional lives and could not complete their tasks, leaving it up to the next generations to get it done. This shows that women too are to blame for this "old-fashioned sense of labor" and that everyone including females who are well off need to understand what the hardworking people in low income jobs experience just to make ends meet.
I agree with your interpretation of the piece. Ehreneich is targeting people who are not blue collar laborers like the maids. His point of view is from an outsiders.
ReplyDeleteI believe that that this piece could be for people who don't understand people with a lower income but i mainly feel that this was meant to understand the work of women, Also it is to show people what it is like to be a maid and how no one really appreciates them.
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