TRUE BLUE REPORT: How very hard it is for a woman to go a day without paid (or unpaid) work

by TrueBlueMajority for Black Star Resistance

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(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday, Mar. 07, 2017 Tuesday, Mar. 07, 2017 at 8:59:56pm PST

Let me begin by saying I think “A Day Without A Woman” is a great idea. As the title photo says, I support it.

“A day without immigrants” definitely opened some people’s eyes. Uncounted thousands of brave workers took a chance and took a stand and some were even fired, but by their absence they made themselves visible. Some employers and customers were supportive, others were taken by surprise, but they will definitely not take immigrant workers for granted again. And compared to the total strength of the immigrant workforce, only a relatively small number of people were able to participate. A real “day without immigrants” would bring huge sections of the country to a standstill and really shake things up. We are playing the long game here, and maybe that bigger event will come.

It is an encouraging sign that some deep red industries that depend on migrant labor and immigrant labor are finally putting two and two together and have finally purchased a clue. They have been forced to stop denying that their entire business model depends on a steady supply of cheap expendable exploitable labor from the undocumented. They talked a good game for years at CPAC and on hateradio and behind closed doors at Rcon fundraisers, but now that it might actually happen, they are coming to the uncomfortable realization that if DJT sends everyone back, and prevents new people from coming in, their businesses will collapse. Too bad they didn’t figure that out before they voted for him and donated money to help elect him…but this is where we are.

In the same vein, we could throw sand in the gears of everything if we actually did manage to have a women’s general strike. I hope a lot of women participate tomorrow, and it serves as preparation for a larger action at some point in the future when we need to make an unmistakable point about the worth of women in a way that would be impossible to ignore.

But for so many women it is literally impossible to go a day without paid or unpaid work.

I can understand not going to a job, or a volunteer organization, but so many women are responsible for the work of life that can’t be postponed or given to anybody else.

I know many men who have women in their lives to care for them. This means have times when they are working and times when they are not. When they are not working someone else is responsible for providing them with meals, clean clothes, a clean house, etc., and they are actually able to relax. Put their feet up. Read the paper, read a book. Have a weekend.

I have never personally known a woman in my personal life for whom that was true. I guess there are some ladies who lunch who have household help who are able to choose not working. I have never known any, but I assume they exist.

So my pink knitted hat is off to the women who will practice the subtraction protest of not showing up for work tomorrow, and not doing work around the house. The rest will just have to show solidarity in other ways.

Man’s work is from sun to sun

but “women’s work” is never done

Man's work is from sun to sun, and can even declare that they will skip a day out of every seven, but women's work is never done.

The greatest difference I see in the lives of men and women is that many more women than men are engaged in the kind of caretaking work that literally must be done every day. Various human and animal mouths must be fed. The diapers of the babies and the elders must be changed. There is no such thing as a “day without work” for women if unpaid work is included.

As some of you know, I was the sole caretaker for the last few years of my mom’s life. She lived with me, I was her only child, and our nearest relatives lived more than two hours away. After her amputation, she was bedbound and completely dependent on my care.

In some ways it was like being on 24-hour call every single day. No such thing as a weekend, or a sabbath. Every day the bed pads still needed to be changed, usually more than once. Food could be prepared in advance but sometimes she needed to be spoon fed. If she spilled a glass of water on her bandages that must be kept dry, then the dressings need to be changed right away. Instead of the 2am feeding, I wake up to administer the 3am pain medicine. In some ways it was harder than having a child because babysitters are easier to find than eldersitters (there's a growth industry for you!).

If we were rich, I could have hired a private nurse to get a break, but of course we couldn’t afford that. For various reasons she could not be put in short-term respite care. People kept saying it was too much work for me and I should put her in a nursing home, but the only long-term nursing facilities we could afford are the kind of places you wouldn't want to board your dog, much less trust with the care of a cherished parent. So I was on 24 hour call every single day for years. Instead of sleep when the baby sleeps, it was “sleep when mom is at dialysis”.

And I think of all the years I worked temp when, if I didn’t go to work I didn't get paid. no sick days.

So I feel for the women who won’t be able to participate tomorrow. They have to go to that job or there will be no food on the table. They have to change the diapers because, well, it needs to be done. Some of them have the reasonable fear that if they do not show up they will be fired. Some of them will be fired because the boss won’t want uppity progressive women around.

On Wednesday I will wear red in their honor.

I won’t go to the office, and I won’t spend any money. I will do some work around the house, but I will not give anyone but myself the benefit of my work, so with respect to the way the world interacts with me, it will be a day without a woman. I will not answer any work emails or messages. I will think of my blogging and computer time as fun instead of work. If someone has a serious emergency, I will use good judgment, and I will try to get away as soon as I am able. I will do my best to do everything I can to have a day without working.

And I will feel grateful that my schedule now gives me enough flexibility to take it to the streets and experience a day without work without repercussions.