Gerson, K. (1987). "Emerging Social Divisions Among Women: Implications for Welfare State Politics," Politics and Society 15(2): 213-221.
This brief essay explores the basis for divisions in women's political leanings, arguing that they are not explained by existing cleavages (such as race, ethnic, or class cleavages), but rather by "difference in women's work and family circumstances." This leads the author to conclude that there is a "family gap" that is common to both men and women, rather than a gender gap between men and women. The key dynamic is that changes in economic structuring and family organization have both opened new social and economic doors and eroded old social and economic foundations, leaving women with a need to change their approach to social conditions. However, not all women are equally exposed to these issues, which means that their responses to them vary. Those who had experienced success in the working world, and whose marital partnerships had proven unsatisfying, were likely to find themselves oriented toward it, while those who had suffered setbacks, and whose partners had been primary breadwinners, tended to orient toward domesticity. This divide has led to a) different politics among the two groups, where the nondomestically oriented women prefer politics of gender equality, while domestically oriented women prefer politics of traditionalism. The author argues that women are likely to continue to divide in this manner, presenting differing preferences for "family politics" issues.
My take: The last paragraph of this essay, which offered some prescriptions for "progressive social and political analysts" in order to short-circuit the division that Gerson describes, appears to have been strongly followed. Modern mainstream feminism attempts to paint itself as empowering choice, both to affirm traditional gender roles and to reject them. The broader economic trends have essentially eliminated domesticity as a viable life choice for women unless they are part of a family unit willing to make substantial economic sacrifices. In short, this fight seems to be over; the domestics lost.