The Second Shift: Discussion Guide
1. Who does Hochschild base her analysis on? That is, how does she go about
collecting the data?
2. Overall, how much of the work did men versus women in the family do?
3. What are the three types of gender ideologies that Hochschild identifies?
4. What does Hochschild mean when she says that gender ideology determines how
the second shift gets played out? Provide examples.
5. What other strategies did couples use?
6. Does it surprise you that the household division of labor could be such an
important issue in a marriage? What do you think is underlying the tension?
