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Five feminist myths about women's employment

Hakim, Catherine (1995) Five feminist myths about women's employment. British Journal of Sociology, 46 (3). pp. 429-455. ISSN 0007-1315

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Abstract

Feminist sociology has contributed substantial revisions to theory, especially in the sociology of work and employment. But it is also creating new feminist myths to replace the old patrarchal myths about women's attitudes and behaviour. Five feminist myths about women's employment are discussed whose acceptance as fact is not damaged by being demonstrably untrue. Arguably the most pervasive is the muth of rising female employment. The myth that women's work commitment is the same as that of men is often adduced to resist labour market discrimination. The myth of childcare problems as the main barrier to women's employment is commonplace in advocacy research reports. The myth of poor quality part-time jobs is used to blame employers for the characteristic behaviour of part-time workers, including high labour turn-over. The issue of the sex differential in labour turnover and employment stability illustrated clearly how feminist orthodoxy has replaced dispassionate sociological research in certain topics. The concluding section considers the implications of such feminist myths for an academic community that claims to be in the truth business and for theories on the sexual division of labour.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/BJS/Home.aspx
Additional Information: © 1995 The London School of Economics and Political Science
Divisions: Sociology
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Date Deposited: 27 Aug 2009 13:57
Last Modified: 03 Jan 2024 00:18
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/25032

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