The Burdened Burdensome Woman: A Poststructural Feminist Analysis of Discussions of The New York Times’ Homeschooling Gender (Dis)Parity Article

Abstract

ABSTRACT As the COVID-19 pandemic swept America in 2020, schools closed and families shifted to children learning online from home. This labor was dominantly covered by mothers, many of whom still had careers to maintain. A 2020 New York Times article reporting on the homeschooling shift concluded with the polarizing declaration that while women did most of the labor associated with homeschooling, men did not perceive the gender imbalance. Guided by a critical feminist lens, the authors examined the comments posted in the article’s comment section to unpack the discourse. Western society places pressure on women to flawlessly perform motherhood and other tasks simultaneously; as such, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a context rich for further subjugation and subordination of pink-collar work.