In many families, daily tasks such as planning expenses, taking care of children, and maintaining family relationships are often taken for granted rather than real “labor”. Most of these tasks are undertaken by women but lack recognition and economic rewards. In the long run, this not only increases the burden on individuals but also exacerbates gender inequality, making it difficult for women to balance between work and family. I began to pay attention to this issue because many female friends around me still have to take on most of the family affairs even if they have formal jobs, and their male partners often rely on their arrangements unconsciously. This made me think: Why do these jobs belong to women by default? Why are they not regarded as “real labor”?
After reading relevant research, I found that invisible family labor not only refers to unpaid family labor, such as housework and childcare, but also includes cognitive and emotional work (Dean, 2022). This labor is “invisible” not only because it lacks economic measurement, but also because society has long naturalized it, making it the default responsibility of women.
Emotional labor is an important part of it. It involves “regulating the influence and emotions of others” and also includes managing the emotions of others and oneself in different social contexts (Daminger, 2019). Women undertake more of this kind of labor, whether it is to comfort their partners and children at home or to maintain a harmonious atmosphere in social interactions. This kind of labor is regarded as women’s “nature”, which conceals its essence as a social control mechanism. It not only shapes women’s gender roles of obedience and dedication but also allows men to circumvent these labors and gain greater freedom of action in the public sphere (Hackman, 2023).
Therefore, in my exhibition design, I hope to focus not only on the specific forms of invisible labor but also on the emotional labor involved. The exhibition will be divided into three parts: the first part explores physical labor and housework, revealing how these daily labors are ignored or naturalized; the second part focuses on emotional labor and family relationships, showing women’s invisible contributions in care, emotional coordination, etc.; the third part further extends to the self-consumption and psychological burden of emotional labor, thinking about how this kind of labor affects the physical and mental health of individuals. Through this structure, I hope to make the audience realize that invisible labor is not only an unrecognized contribution but also an important mechanism for shaping social gender roles and power relations.
