"It Just Makes Sense": Spatial Decision Making for Couples Who Work From Home

Keywords: feminist geography, geography of the home
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

As a feminist geographer, I am interested in the ways gender and the built environment interact and reproduce hierarchy, rigid social norms, and other divisions. Spaces of the home have historically been viewed as women’s territory, while public spaces outside of the house were created for male experiences. However, a growing trend of working from home is bringing those two supposed separate spheres together. With the rise of performing paid work from home, expedited by COVID-19, workers and their co-residents have found themselves negotiating multiple roles and relations under one roof. It is clear from personal anecdotes, news articles, surveys, and peer-reviewed studies that women are taking on the most burden from the fusion of work and home spaces. Feminist geographers have shown how the built environment can exacerbate the subjugation of women, and the increase of adults working from home provides a significant opportunity for more research in the ways this is done in the home. This paper will examine interviews of couples who work from home, and analyze how they negotiate and utilize the divisions of space and labor.