Such loss of self, in Dworkin’s phrase, becomes women’s portion in large part because, in addition to their role in providing for their families’ economic and physical needs, they are the designated emotional caregivers, at their own expense. The task of caring, in fact, falls largely to women in this culture. The contemporary phrase emotional labor does a great job of conveying the joblike nature of this stress-inducing, externally imposed role. Arguably to an even greater degree than housework and childbirth, this is the proverbial “woman’s work” that “is never done.”
