How should we use the term?

Regardless of the academic origin as a tool for thinking about the workplace, we can’t deny that the definition of emotional labour has moved from simply describing managing one’s emotions at work to also including any task that affects our emotions, requires management of emotion, or puts a toll on our emotions, which includes work that takes place in our non-workplace lives.

Personally, I don’t think this is a bad thing. I understand the distinction of an academic term, but I feel the term emotional labour does a better job of capturing the truly draining effect, while mental load can feel a little more trivial (although this is just my personal opinion). Especially when it comes to people who are living within oppressive systems and still being oppressed, it’s only right that they should be able to use language that they feel more fully encompasses the weight of their experiences.

Hochschild’s larger argument is that, while she encourages exploration of this concept, by applying the term emotional labour too liberally outside of the workplace, we aren't able to have productive conversations because we're talking about different issues. I understand some of what she’s getting at; there will always be tasks in our domestic life which we aren’t paid for, so we can run the risk of making the notion too blurry if we simply put every piece of labour that isn’t paid into the category of emotional labour.

There’s a distinction to be made about the purpose of a task. Suppose the purpose of the task was to make your mother-in-law happy, and you’re paying a visit. You get in the cab, you ring the doorbell—that’s not emotional labor. But if your mother-in-law is extremely disapproving of you, and in the first five minutes you become aware of that again, and you’re having to defend your self-esteem against the perceived insult, that’s emotional labor.

She argues that mental work becomes emotional labour if it’s in some way disturbing to you or requires you to manage or suppress your emotions in some way. There are also ways that some of us might enjoy emotional labour:

If you’re the one that people are turning to for advice, chances are you’re good at giving advice. Chances are you’re gratified at being able to help people, and there’s nothing inherently alienating about being such a person. Do I want people to lean on me less? No, I don’t.

I think this is why we also need to understand why emotional labour is an extremely important topic of conversation when it comes to marginalised individuals. Existing within oppressive systems every day means that people of colour, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, plus size people and more are constantly having to suppress and manage their emotions.

Reference :

ETHICAL UNICORN. (2019). What Is Emotional Labour & Why Is It Important? [online] Available at: https://ethicalunicorn.com/2019/05/19/what-is-emotional-labour-why-is-it-important/.[Accesed 21 May 2021]