We have a new column in this week’s New York Times Magazine, which is a special issue on the boomer generation. Our piece is called “Laid-Back Labor,” and it actually germinated from a blog post here a few months ago. Here’s one paragraph from the column:
Isn’t it puzzling that so many middle-aged Americans are spending so much of their time and money performing menial labors when they don’t have to? Just as the radio and phonograph proved to be powerful substitutes for the piano, the forces of technology and capitalism have greatly eased the burden of feeding and clothing ourselves. So what’s with all the knitting, gardening and [as the U.S. Census Bureau calls it] “cooking for fun”? Why do some forms of menial labor survive as hobbies while others have been killed off? (For instance, we can’t think of a single person who, since the invention of the washing machine, practices “laundry for fun.”)
As always, we’ve posted some related research material elsewhere on this site. Comments welcome below.
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Knitting, gardening, and say, restoring furniture are things that allow poeple to be creative, and to work on projects that have a clear start and finish. When you’ve finished knitting a sweater you feel like you really accomplished something. But when I leave my job at the end of the day, I feel like I wasted 8 hours that I could have spent doing something productive. Hobbies allow people to have control over something – be it a garden, a model car, or a sewing room. It isn’t menial labor – it’s necessary for many people who, like myself, are trapped in jobs that are alienating, mind-numbing, and useless.
Knitting, gardening, and say, restoring furniture are things that allow poeple to be creative, and to work on projects that have a clear start and finish. When you’ve finished knitting a sweater you feel like you really accomplished something. But when I leave my job at the end of the day, I feel like I wasted 8 hours that I could have spent doing something productive. Hobbies allow people to have control over something – be it a garden, a model car, or a sewing room. It isn’t menial labor – it’s necessary for many people who, like myself, are trapped in jobs that are alienating, mind-numbing, and useless.
Do you have any specific proof that capitalism aided in this assumed achievement? If not, then that is the kind of generalization that gets glossed over, yet permeates our society as a given.
Do you have any specific proof that capitalism aided in this assumed achievement? If not, then that is the kind of generalization that gets glossed over, yet permeates our society as a given.
I’m with grungeglitter- work and creativity are necessary for fulfillment- I think the distinction is between work and labor that Marx deconstructed- if we have to do these tasks (viz. sweatshops), then they are menial labor and to be avoided- but if we work at them spontaneously, they can enrich our lives
I’m with grungeglitter- work and creativity are necessary for fulfillment- I think the distinction is between work and labor that Marx deconstructed- if we have to do these tasks (viz. sweatshops), then they are menial labor and to be avoided- but if we work at them spontaneously, they can enrich our lives
Gardening, knitting and cooking yield a tangible final product — a garden, sweater, or meal — for which the creator receives recognition and admiration.
Laundry does not.
Gardening, knitting and cooking yield a tangible final product — a garden, sweater, or meal — for which the creator receives recognition and admiration.
Laundry does not.