Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Fed Up summary
Gemma Hartley
Brief summary
Fed Up by Gemma Hartley explores the gender division of emotional labor and the ways in which women are often burdened with managing household tasks and emotional labor. It offers insights and strategies for recognizing and addressing this imbalance.
Topics
Table of Contents
Fed Up
Summary of key ideas
Fed Up: Emotional Labor and the Gender Gap
In Fed Up, Gemma Hartley explores the concept of emotional labor, primarily performed by women. Emotional labor is the invisible, unpaid work of managing household responsibilities and caring for others' emotional needs. The book starts by defining emotional labor, illustrating it with personal anecdotes, and explaining how it often falls disproportionately on women.
Hartley presents a slew of evidence from psychological and sociological literature proving the omnipresent, albeit invisible burden of emotional labor on women. She draws attention to the lack of acknowledgement and appreciation for this work, which not only has an emotional cost but also a physical one as it often leads to burnout in women.
The Role of Social Conditioning
With clarity and empathy, Fed Up addresses how traditional gender roles that privilege men over women contribute to this imbalance. Hartley contends that social conditioning from childhood instills the belief that women are better caretakers and organizers, hence creating an expectation for women to perform emotional labor.
The middle of the book focuses on how emotional labor is supported by embedded societal norms. Hartley incriminates multiple facets of society including institutions, media and education systems, that sustain gender inequality and prescriptive gender roles. Shepresses for the necessity of involving men in conversations surrounding emotional labor, which is often dismissed as 'women's issues'.
Moving Towards Gender Equality
The latter part of Fed Up proposes solutions for achieving greater gender equality in emotional labor. Hartley suggests cultivating open dialogues about emotional labor within homes and workplaces. She emphasizes the need for both genders to express their expectations, frustrations, and challenges to understand each other better and bridge the emotional labor gap.
Hartley also advocates for changes in the professional world by pushing for workplace policies and practices that acknowledge and reduce the burden of emotional labor on women. These include flexible work hours, adequate maternity leave, and mental health support systems.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
In the concluding chapters, Fed Up underscores the urgency of recognizing and redistributing emotional labor. Hartley prompts individuals, especially women, to voice out the invisible work they do and demand equality. The onus is also on men to partake in this effort by acknowledging and sharing emotional labor.
In conclusion, through Fed Up, Hartley delivers a compelling call-to-action: for the benefit of society, its institutions, and its members, the under-appreciated cost of emotional labor must be recognized and shared more equally. In essence, the book is an exigent request for all - to not just start seeing the invisible work done predominantly by women, but to also start sharing it.
How do we create content on this page?
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Fed Up about?
'Fed Up' by Gemma Hartley explores the emotional labor that women often bear in their everyday lives. From household chores to managing relationships, Hartley examines the unseen work and societal expectations that contribute to women's burnout. Through personal anecdotes and research, the book sheds light on the need for a more equitable distribution of emotional labor and offers practical tips for addressing this imbalance.
Who should read Fed Up?
- Anyone who feels overwhelmed by the demands of modern motherhood
- People seeking validation and reassurance that they are not alone in their experiences
- Individuals who want to better understand the cultural and societal expectations placed on mothers
Categories with Fed Up
Book summaries like Fed Up
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked these summaries
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
29 Million
Downloads on all platforms
10+ years
Experience igniting personal growth