Unpaid Labor

Until recently, I had never actually heard of unpaid labor, or if I did I hadn't taken note of it. What is unpaid labor exactly? It's any labor that someone does in support of another human being, community or society that isn't paid. Could this come close to or equate to slavery? In many aspects, yes. This unpaid labor is the real labor that has helped to build and form our society and nation, yet it gets no recognition, much less pay. Would slaves really have been that unhappy with their hard labor if they would have been paid, had their freedom with off hours or been treated like human beings with respect and dignity for their hard work...probably not. In the past especially and even still in the present, it is women that bare the brunt of unpaid labor or if I so boldly say, have been caught in the invisible state of slavery. Whether it's the baring and raising of children, caring for an elderly parent, volunteering or providing some other service without reward or wage, then it is unpaid labor that has taken away from our lives and growth as human beings.

We say that women have choices and do not have to provide these types of services if they do not want to. Yet our society is dependent on these services and if all unpaid labor stopped tomorrow, what would the world really look like? Growth and progress would be replaced with chaos. Yet we as women accept our fate, pride ourselves off of and joke about our lives that consist of the work that is never done.