THE EXHAUSTION OF WOMEN
ROBERT MISIK IN CONVERSATION WITH FRANZISKA SCHUTZBACH
THE CREATION OF WOMEN
Against female availability
In our society, femininity is equated with caring. Whether in the family, in relationships or at work, women are responsible for emotional care, for harmony, comfort and relationship work - in other words, for activities that are invisible and receive little recognition or payment. They „owe“ others - the family, men, the public, the workplace - their attention, their love, their affection, their attractiveness, their time. And fight against emotional and sexual availability expectations every day.
It is these omnipresent demands that drive women to exhaustion. Because - declared as „female nature“ - the care work performed is usually little recognised and remains invisible. It is considered economically irrelevant and is therefore exploitable.
Gender researcher Franziska Schutzbach shows that the demands of availability mean different things to different women: Whether as mothers or as girls, whether as black or white women, as migrants, trans or non-binary people, as fat or lesbian women, whether in the service sector, in caring professions or in digital (self-)marketing, whether as politicians or artists - the demands have different dimensions and different causes.
Schutzbach opposes a misogynistic system that expects everything from women and gives nothing in return. And she shows the many ways in which women resist the exploitation of their energy, their psyches and their bodies. A resistance that becomes a driving force for new ways of working and living and changes the world.
Franziska Schutzbach, born in 1978, holds a doctorate in gender studies and sociology, is a publicist, feminist activist and mother of two. In 2017, she initiated the #SchweizerAufschrei and has since become a well-known and sought-after feminist voice beyond Switzerland.
Her research focuses on gender issues such as misogyny and sexism, and she also analyses the communication strategies of right-wing populists. Franziska Schutzbach lives in Basel.
Franziska Schutzbach:
The exhaustion of women. Against female availability
Droemer Knaur publishing house, October 2021, € 18.00