Scaredy, if you think women’s work is losing value, check out what’s happening to the value of “men’s work” in an age where machines can do almost all of the physical labor; and where machines can’t do the work, desperately poor, exploitable laborers will do it, instead.
And women’s work doesn’t involve only birthing, nursing, and childcare. It involves physical caregiving (even for husbands, parents, and others whose families want to outsource the tasks), nurturing, and emotional support of all kinds.
No, cleaning, cooking, caregiving, etc. are not at all obsolete. Even if people outsource these things, a person is still needed to do the work…the work has simply been shifted from one person to the next.
