Unpaid labor, encompassing domestic tasks and caregiving responsibilities, remains largely invisible within the capitalist economic framework. Despite its critical role in sustaining societal structures, this labor is neither compensated nor recognized in measures of economic productivity. According to a 2015 report by the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, the average female-identifying individual performs 4.5 hours of unpaid work—most of which involves domestic labor—every single day, compared to the average male-identifying individual’s 1.5 hours. This imbalance not only reflects deep-seated gender inequities but also underscores the devaluation of labor traditionally associated with women. On top of that, there is an even more invisible form of labor disproportionately affecting marginalized people: mental and emotional labor.
The term “emotional labor” was first used by sociologist Arlie Hochschild to describe the specific affect workers in the service industry are expected to adopt. We know it today as the “customer service voice,” or the placid smile expected of the fast-food cashier while being screamed at by an irate customer. But the term has since been expanded to encompass a wider range of work, including everything from the “mental load” of remembering birthdays and packing enough socks for a trip, to the expectation that marginalized people do the work of regulating the emotions of the more privileged.
Though the language to describe it is relatively new to the public consciousness, the labor itself is certainly not. In 1931, Virginia Woolf lambasted the concept of the woman as the “Angel in the House,” whose purpose was to please and regulate others, to “be sympathetic; be tender; flatter… never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own.”
In her 2023 book Emotional Labor, journalist Rose Hackman wrote, “Under the distribution of this form of work, in which women are expected to provide emotional labor and men are not, there is a basic acceptance that a man’s existence is to be protected as a priority over a woman’s. This system is one in which men’s quality of life matters primarily, and women are put to work for it. There could not be a starker expression of gender hierarchy than that.”
Far from being limited to gender binaries, this issue, too, is an intersectional one. Sociologists Adia Harvey Wingfield and Renée Skeete have defined the concept of racial tasks as a form of emotional labor pervading workplace hierarchies. “Racial tasks constitute additional, invisible labor that workers of color are charged with performing. When minority workers do the routine, everyday acts associated with their jobs, we argue that a hidden component of this work involves various tasks and expectations that maintain normative whiteness in organizations. This labor is inconspicuous, easily obscured, and constitutes an invisible form of racial identity work.”
The burden of emotional labor is another means by which the experience of privileged people is centered at the expense of their marginalized counterparts. It serves—in a particularly insidious manner, and even in spaces which are otherwise more egalitarian—to reinforce the place of marginalized people in the societal and familial hierarchy. This burden can lead to increased stress, fatigue, burnout, and even trauma for those upon whose shoulders it falls. Achieving the goals of established movements for social justice and equity can naturally help to redefine who is expected to perform emotional labor for whom.
We must also envision a new paradigm of labor—one that truly reflects the complexities and nuances of human contributions—and expand our understanding of what constitutes work and productivity. This means acknowledging the emotional intelligence, empathy, and mental resilience required to navigate not only personal relationships but also professional environments. In an anarcha-syndicalist framework, the recognition of emotional labor could revolutionize the way we think about labor, compensation, and social value. In assigning commensurate value to invisible forms of labor, we take a step toward democratizing the workplace, the family, and our social groups, and toward dismantling the hierarchical structures that perpetuate marginalization.
This would require a cultural shift towards empathy and recognition of the diverse forms of labor that sustain society—far beyond the work that creates profit and is thus currently deigned worthy of compensation. A more equitable system would include, as a bare minimum, mental health days, flexible schedules to accommodate caregiving responsibilities, and offer a pathway to reconfigure labor around workers’ needs. By fostering communities of care within both the workplace and society at large, we can begin to counteract the emotional toll of capitalism.
In challenging the capitalist valuation of labor, we also challenge the patriarchal and colonial legacies it supports. Recognizing emotional labor not only validates the experiences of those traditionally marginalized, but also disrupts the mechanisms by which neoliberal capitalism perpetuates inequality.
The danger of this process lies in the predisposition of capitalism to commodify everything to which it assigns any value. In order to assign value to this work without subjecting it to the same exploitative mechanisms that have historically devalued labor in general, this process must coexist with the dismantling of the same systems we already seek to dismantle—capitalism, colonialism, and hierarchy—and must emphasize the intrinsic value of wellbeing, community solidarity, and mutual support.
Recognizing emotional labor as valuable work necessitates a reevaluation of the role of care in society. Care work, both emotional and physical, is the bedrock upon which societies are built. Yet, it is undervalued because it is seen as inherently feminine and therefore, under the patriarchal gaze, as less worthy. We must continue to challenge the gender binary and heteronormativity that underpin the traditional division of labor. This includes not only recognizing but actively dismantling the societal norms and structures that assign certain forms of work to marginalized groups, and undervalue it accordingly. In this way, we move towards a society that values care as a critical component of existence, given and received by all humans. This shift could lead to a broader transformation in how we view dependency and autonomy, fostering a more widespread recognition of interdependence as a strength rather than a weakness.
The hard work of feeling, then, is not just a personal challenge but a political one. It demands a radical rethinking of labor, value, and community. As we strive towards a more inclusive and equitable society, the recognition, distribution, and compensation of emotional labor stand as pivotal steps in the journey. In embracing this challenge, we pave the way for a world where all labor is seen, valued, and honored.
Sources
Buckingham, D. (2018). Invisible Labor: A Mixed-Method Study Of African American Women And Their Emotional Labor In The Academy [University of Mississippi ]. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1848&context=etd
Crain, M., Poster, W., & Cherry, M. (Eds.). (2019). Invisible labor: Hidden work in the contemporary world. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520961630
Hackman, R. (2023). Emotional labor: The invisible work shaping our lives and how to claim our power. Flatiron Books.
Hochschild, A. R. (2012). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling (3rd ed.). University of California Press.
Woolf, V. (1995). Killing the angel in the house. Penguin Books.
(N.d.). Weforum.org. Retrieved March 21, 2024, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/do-women-work-longer-hours-than-men/