“Mental Load”
acrylic on collage of recycled materials on unmounted canvas panel
72”x36”
Currently NFS
A woman, inspired by the image of a 1950s perfect housewife, juggles iron balls to which paper reminders are attached. Above her head, in a comic bubble, we can see that she is thinking of other cannonballs that also have reminders hanging from chains. On the little white papers, we can read, “be emotionally available at all times, ensure the well-being of all members of the family, listen to everyone's spleen, take care of elderly parents, food planning, grocery shopping, cook breakfast lunch and diner every day, every week every year, prepare lunch box, clean the fridge, help with homework, kids are growing, buy clothes, schedule doctors appointments, talk to teacher…go to work, etc…” Her retro swimsuit contains a reproduction of The Scream by Edvard Munch, an intense moment that represents here the violence and the real uneasiness felt by women who must constantly juggle all facets of their lives, in family and at work.
Mental load is a recent concept, but what it tries to explain is not. The mental load is a continuous solicitation of the cognitive and emotional capacities of women. It is invisible work, permanent planning, which must be done so that the daily and emotional life of the family unfolds without hitches. As it is a task that is done internally. It is invisible, it does not materialize directly, which is different from the visible tasks of the household or taking care of the children. Being invisible, it is therefore difficult to identify. Also, due to its lack of visibility, this load has no time limit, it can be performed anywhere and anytime. It can be thought of before, during and after work or even at night and cause insomnia.
This burden is still today mainly borne by women, accentuating the inequalities of which they are already victim to in the labor market, with the gender pay gap and the glass ceiling. Women’s working days are often disrupted by this mental load cluttering their minds. In France in 2010, women continued to devote 4 hours a day, one hour less than in the 1990s, to household chores. For their part, the men invested the same two hours as thirty years ago. According to INSEE, in 2010, women took on 64% of household chores and 71% of parental responsibilities. And although women continue to fight for professional parity with men, after years of effort and enormous progress in this area, this mental burden makes them take less risky choices when it comes to their professional lives, often pushing them to work part-time or delay career advancement.
Bathing suit: Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1895 (details)