The Normalisation of Flexible Female Labour in the Information Economy

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“…2 The Treasurer's visions, which found resonance in a range of advertisements for new media devices over a similar period, turned an Internet connection into a post-feminist tool, empowering female users to exercise new opportunities for "work-life balance." Mobile media were feted as putting an end to women's alienation from career success in the public sphere and the culture of long hours necessary to achieve it (Melissa Gregg 2007). Four years later, these high hopes appeared to reach a pinnacle as a female politician took the role of Prime Minister for the first time.…”

Women, Smartphones and the Workplace

“…Discussions about mobile technology, work, domestic labour and their relation to gender have begun to appear in feminist literature (Fortunati 2009;Gregg 2008), supplementing much earlier work on women's use of mobile phones (e.g. Lana Rakow & Vija Navarro 1993).…”

“…Smartphones are celebrated for affording users flexibility to communicate and access information from multiple locations, offering particular benefits in enabling mobile work. But as feminist scholars begin to question the validity of these claims, arguing for instance that the flexibility made possible by mobile technology must be examined within a broader work/life context (Melissa Gregg 2008), it is suggested that women's use of smartphones in their personal and professional lives involves more than pragmatic management of work and personal responsibilities. In navigating the blurred boundaries of work and home and, for many women, the disproportionate levels of care giving responsibilities relative to their male counterparts, women can use their smartphones in ways that craft particular identities and also define their connections with others.…”

Incongruous encounters: media representations and lived experiences of stay-at-home mothers

“…However, in the mediated public sphere childcare remains largely obscured (Jermyn 2008;Hochschild 1989;Gregg, 2008 Like the Smithton women in Janice Radway's (1984, 60) ground-breaking study, the accounts of Dana, Geraldine, Sharon and other women hint at "a deep-seated sense of betrayal" and "a certain sadness that many of [them]…seem to share because life has not given them all that it once promised." Thus, while Walters and Harrison (2014, 47) …”

“…She reaps the rewards of full-time motherhood in the form of strong and deep relationships with her teenage children, and is "spared" any guilt about neglecting them in the crucial formative years. Her character recalls contemporary images of career mothers which cater to feminist ideals of empowerment and independence (Gregg 2008). She is the successful businesswoman realising the dream of equality in the workplace and feeling liberated by pursuing her career: she is passionate about her professional work, wins case after case, and is respected and valued by colleagues and clients.…”