From The Frying Pan Into The Fire Summary

Women’s social status is steadily increasing within last fifty year; however, in the past, women had a much lower social position. There might be a chance in the future that women would share the same social status as men do due to the existence of capitalism, and the solutions that bring by “girl effect.” Women now are able to work and women’s gender roles have changed significantly by being financial independent. However, the unequal treatment between men and women still exists: women who work in the same position as the men might not earn the same salaries as the men do. In “From the Frying Pan into the Fire,” Hochschild introduces capitalism is the economic system requires people to work and earn profit, and the religion system that changes
Due to capitalism, both men and women have to work to support the family. Hochschild’s begins her article with Instant Quaker Oats cereal advertisement. “We see a mother pressing her son to eat more efficiently at home. This efficiency seeking in transferred from men to women, from the workplace to the home, and from adult to children” (184). In this advertisement, the mother makes the breakfast for her son within ninety seconds. This provides the mother more time to work and make money. By taking care the work and the family at the same time, women are gaining their social position. Financial independent makes women do not have to rely on men and they can make decisions that follow their wishes. The advertisement indicates that women are jumping from the frying pan of patriarchy into the fire of capitalism by taking care of their growing children and working at the same time. Women’s social statuses have changed significantly by having an efficiency lifestyle. Before, women’s roles are giving birth to children or taking care of families, but now working and making money to support families. In Kristof and WuDunn’s essay, she introduces “women aren’t the problem but the solution. The plight of girls in no more a tragedy than an opportunity” (209). Women need to receive more respect from society, and they can accomplish much more
Capitalism contributes to spread the value of gender equality, and women are trying to find the balance between the work and the home. The reality is that women’s social statuses have increased in recent years, but there is still a long way to go in order to emancipate women. In Kristof and WuDunn’s article, they describe the idea of emancipating women as “recruit you to join an incipient movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty by unlocking women’s power as economic catalysts” (231). People should promote gender equality, and there are many ways to accomplish such tasks. The “girl effect” is the solution for emancipating women, and it combines “the basic formula was to ease repression, educate girls as well as boys, give the girls the freedom to move to the cities and take factory jobs, and then benefit from a demographic dividend as they delayed marriage and reduced childbearing” (210). The deeper meaning for emancipating women is promoting women’s gender equality. There is an increasing number of women are working and accomplishing financial independent. Women now do not have to rely on men, and they can make decisions for themselves. Young girls are the next generation of women, and they should also be treated equally. For example, young girls should receive the same education as boys do. Most of time, girls have a higher GPA than boys, which also shows