Deutsch, Francine "Halving It All: The Mother and Mr. Mom"

            Is co-parenting and equality at home possible, and if so is it the solution to the superwoman dilemma and balancing motherhood and a career?   "Halving It All" throws its readers in to what it is like to be a blue-collar working mom or an affluent professional.   The article confronts the difficult realities of raising and maintaining a family while pursuing a career.   The article asks the questions: How do couples alternate shifts?   Why do couples alternate shifts?   Where does feminism fit in to all of this?   What reactions or praises do men and women individually receive from co-parenting?   The "equal share" arrangement does not quite work out as such, and this dynamic reflects the devaluation of "woman's work" in the household.   Overall the article exposes many career-family role conflicts, as well as the devaluation of "feminized" work roles, which are important to consider and confront within Feminism in the Workplace. - L.F.

This article documents the new phenomenom in blue collar families: alternating shifts. Deutsch explains that the "gender revolution" has now reached the lower classes, in situations like with "Stan" the manly construction worker, who works half the day and then comes home to bathe, feed, and play with his two daughters. She presents data showing how one fight of the workers in America work "evening, night or rotating shifts" and discusses the impact of this on families. Families explain that they want to be closer to their kids and have more money and a more complete family, and Some of these affects are fathers being more warm and emotional and useful with house duties, but downfalls are also discussed. - K.B.