Are Trad Wives Happier Than Working Women?
"The problem that has no name" has a name—negative prediction error.
I sometimes watch reruns of I Love Lucy just to taste feminism's bittersweet irony. The show's star, Lucille Ball, was a shrewd businesswoman who co-founded Desilu Productions, the American film company that acquired RKO Studios.
But on TV, she playacts the simpleton in kitten heels, whose only worry is not burning the pot roast.
In one campy episode, appropriately titled "Job Switching," Lucy even becomes a cautionary tale for those rouge-wearing renegades who dare to enter the uncharted territory of (clutch your pearls)…a paying job.
The drama begins when Lucy and her sidekick, Ethel, agree to switch places for a week with their husbands, Ricky and Fred. At first, Ricky impresses Lucy with a gourmet spread for their first dinner. Unfortunately, that "gourmet spread" is really a creatively re-arranged platter from the local Italian joint. Hijinx follows when Ricky and Fred try to master their culinary skills. Of course, the boys can't hack the kitchen. Cue the bumbling domestic man trope.
Meanwhile, Lucy and Ethel, score paying jobs at a chocolate factory in the "dipping" department. Get it? Dippy blondes dipping chocolate. Subtle.
