From Difference to Dominance to Domesticity: Care as Work, Gender as Tradition

This Article introduces the notion of gender not as difference or as dominance, but as tradition. The work of Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler are tapped for insights into the cultural system that defines the relationship of market work to family work; the term "domesticity" is used to describe that system. Domesticity is presented as an important, if partial, model that offers crucial insights into the work/family axis of gender—and into the strengths and limitations of conceptualizing work/family issues in terms of "care." This Article argues that "care" is work, and distinguishes seven distinct types of care work.