Will I love The Managed Heart?

Hochschild is a sociologist, exploring modern types of jobs that commercialize human emotions. Think of flight attendants or bill collectors: people who have to smile at clients or remain polite, even if these clients make that very hard. Hochschild shows the impact of such acting; I use her insights in my work on sex work.

This book explains why, even though you don’t do physical labor, you’re exhausted at the end of the workday. It’s because jobs that involve interacting with the public require emotional labor. You must act your part and put on your work face. Hochschild’s research examines the toll that things like having to smile and being nice to obnoxious, insulting people can take on a person.

We all do emotional labor, but most of us don’t get paid for it. Hell, most of us don’t even get noticed for it! The Managed Heart brings this labor out of the shadows, and it’s a life-changing book. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild developed the concept of emotional labor, which is the labor we do to manage our own emotions and the emotions of others in the context of our work. 

Emotional labor is crucial, but it’s nearly always unacknowledged, unsupported, and treated as something you should already know how to do – for free! This book helps you observe the… show more.