The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work

At a childcare center in the basement of the Baptist church, Diane Caselli, a childcare worker in blue jeans and loose shirt, methodically turns over small upended chairs that rest on a Lilliputian breakfast table. The center works on "child time." Its rhythms are child-paced, flexible, mainly slow. Gwen Bell is reasonably well-informed about Amerco's flextime and reduced-hours policies, which are available to white-collar employees like her. But she has not talked with her boss about cutting back her hours, nor have her joking coworkers, and her boss hasn't raised the possibility himself. Women fear losing their place at work; having such a place has become a source of security, pride, and a powerful sense of being valued. But women have entered the workplace on "male" terms. It would be less problematic for women to adopt a male model of work—to finally enjoy privileges formerly reserved for men—if the male model of work were one of balance.