ABSTRACT

The Nordics are known as countries of gender equality. Still, the heterosexual gender and labour division arrangement in the nuclear family to a large degree persists. This particularly seems to be the case in Norway. In a Norwegian context, this is also particularly so in the southernmost region of Agder. In this article, I argue that work that is part of the heterosexual gender and labour division arrangement in the nuclear family in today’s Norway is left largely unexplored and that the invisibility and silence of this work contributes to the inertia of this arrangement. I use insights and tools from institutional ethnography to explore what I call “breadwinning work” in the everyday lives of men living in nuclear families in Agder. I also explore how certain understandings of breadwinning and paid work have contributed to concealing this work. These understandings underpin social science research, contemporary public debate and gender equality policies in today’s Norway. In order to move towards greater gender equality, I argue that these perceptions need to be challenged.

摘要

北欧被称为两性平等国家。尽管如此，核心家庭中的异性性别和劳动分工安排仍在很大程度上维持。挪威似乎尤其如此。在挪威的情况下，在阿格德最南端的地区尤其如此。在本文中，我认为，当今挪威核心家庭中异性恋性别和劳动分工安排的一部分工作尚未得到充分探索，这项工作的隐性和沉默助长了这种安排的惯性。我使用来自制度民族志的见解和工具来探索我在阿格达核心家庭的人们的日常生活中所谓的“赚钱的工作”。我还将探讨对赚钱和有偿工作的某些理解如何有助于隐藏这项工作。这些理解为当今挪威的社会科学研究，当代公共辩论和性别平等政策奠定了基础。为了争取更大的性别平等，我认为这些观念需要受到挑战。