In today's society women are working extremely hard to earn their full rights in the workforce. Not only do they work hard in their careers, but they still are expected to to take care of all of the housework as well. Second-shifting is a problem for women because of the stress it has on women. Many women want equal rights in the workforce so they have to put just as much time their jobs as they do their kids. Many women are trying to be what is defined as the term "supermom." This is the mom that goes to work full-time and still comes home to cook dinner for their families and clean up after them.
Second-shifting is a form of oppression because it makes women tired. Many people ask why the third wave of feminism has not yet happened, and this is because women are working so hard that they are just worn out. Women try so hard to keep up with men, that they are not able to truly fight for what they want. In reality the workforce is usually run by men, and for women to get ahead in work they usually have to compensate for the man which is exactly what they are trying to end.
Many women work twice as hard as their grandmothers because they do want a successful career, but many think they have to be the one doing house work because the men will not do it right. This is where the separation of women's work and men's work comes in. Household work like cleaning and scheduling appointments are seen as women's work, and many women do not want the man doing the work. They have the idea of "If I want something done right, I have to do it myself." With this gender behavior still being reinforced it makes it much harder on women to truly step away from the old idea of what a woman and wife "should" do. Many women have realized this oppression that the new age women face, but nothing has changed. This is probably due to the fact that they too are working women with families and they are just as tired as everyone else. Second-shifting is an oppression to women because in hind-sight women are still not improving in the workforce no matter how they work, and they do twice as much work as a man. Even if the other half of work is "women's work."
I agree with everything you mentioned above. The second shift is and will never be an equal shift among men and women. My brother and sister-in-law recently had thier second child. Many think that my sister-in-law is lazy or too into herself because she doesn't "work" a full time job. Raising two children, cleaning, and cooking is enough work to keep anyone busy. I feel that society is overlooking what mothers really do. Being a woman comes with many assumed roles and responsibilities.
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