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A review by alexisrt
Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte
4.0
I've read or have seen several books in the same vein (women, work life balance, parenting), so Schulte is trodding popular territory here. They've all come out at around the same time, though, so I can't fault her for a bandwagon. (This book was chosen as part of a community reading program at my public library, which is partly why I read it.)
The diagnosis is typical, but it's well researched: the examples are good and she uses other countries as a contrast without idealizing them (the Danes wind up coming across as less perfect than they see themselves to be; I don't know if that was her intention). The framing of how this is all eating our time is well done, and she recognizes that the problem (and any solutions) are not just about women, but all of us.
THere are two flaws that got to me:
- The time problem is not just one for the middle classes. It's okay to write a book about middle class concerted cultivation parenting, as long as you've defined your topic clearly. However, the time crunch applies to a broad swath of the American population (those, who Schulte herself . If you're only interested in the time crunch of middle class families with children, define that. With a few exceptions, her targets fit a similar demographic.
- Her proposed solutions are weak, largely because there is no easy answer to broad social change. The people setting the policies are those who have managed to rise to the top in the current system. They're largely the ones who benefit. Further, we have firmly internalized Margaret Thatcher's famous remark that "There is no such thing as society." People (usually women) choose to have children and therefore to bear the consequences of that "choice." Schulte acknowledges American individualism, but facing up to its extent--that we begrudge people even the basics of sick time or recovery from childbirth--would make for a depressing conclusion.
The diagnosis is typical, but it's well researched: the examples are good and she uses other countries as a contrast without idealizing them (the Danes wind up coming across as less perfect than they see themselves to be; I don't know if that was her intention). The framing of how this is all eating our time is well done, and she recognizes that the problem (and any solutions) are not just about women, but all of us.
THere are two flaws that got to me:
- The time problem is not just one for the middle classes. It's okay to write a book about middle class concerted cultivation parenting, as long as you've defined your topic clearly. However, the time crunch applies to a broad swath of the American population (those, who Schulte herself . If you're only interested in the time crunch of middle class families with children, define that. With a few exceptions, her targets fit a similar demographic.
- Her proposed solutions are weak, largely because there is no easy answer to broad social change. The people setting the policies are those who have managed to rise to the top in the current system. They're largely the ones who benefit. Further, we have firmly internalized Margaret Thatcher's famous remark that "There is no such thing as society." People (usually women) choose to have children and therefore to bear the consequences of that "choice." Schulte acknowledges American individualism, but facing up to its extent--that we begrudge people even the basics of sick time or recovery from childbirth--would make for a depressing conclusion.