Emotional Labor

Journalists are people. When I repeat those three seemingly obvious words to groups of journalists, the room echoes with gasps and sighs. We, journalists, react that way because we work ourselves and our teams so hard that we forget that basic truth. Last fall, I arrived at Stanford as a…

Emotional labor refers to the invisible work that people do to manage their emotions and the emotions of others. This type of work is often…

Sarah had always been the one to make sure everything was running smoothly in her household. She took care of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry, but it wasn’t just the physical work she was responsible for. …

IQ vs EI This is a reminder that our IQs it’s all about competence and Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand & manage your emotions, as well as recognize & influence the feelings of those around you. Here are five emotional skills we need to navigate 🗺️ at home, workplace, and social…

When your partner can’t talk about his feelings — “She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not. She loves me!” Saying this while pulling petals off a flower is a silly way to determine whether she loves you, but it’s easier than engaging in hermeneutic labor. …

Who’s really the boss? — It sounds like a capitalist’s dream come true, monetizing your feelings. Except it’s already come true. There are many jobs that include emotional labor. Sociologist, Arlie Hochschild was perhaps the first to write, back in 1983, about emotional labor in her book The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. In…

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but here it goes. Women have long been socialized to prioritize the feelings of men over their own. …

“Can I get your help for a minute?” This phrase is going to kill me. Or compel me to murder. At the very least, it has become highly triggering for me. I have a feeling I’m not alone. A rat got into space underneath my pantry and made a nest…

The other day I read an article about how much emotional labor husbands do. Often, it goes unacknowledged. The example Dr. Samantha Rodman Whiten uses is managing the finances. In my marriage, I am the one who does this. But there are numerous other ways my husband takes care of…