“Detalles”, frustraciones y desconciertos: El trabajo emocional en las parejas jóvenes heterosexuales

Abstract

This article delves into the gender inequalities that exist in heterosexual partner relationships in relation to "emotional work", as defined by Hochschild (1979), parting from the analysis of the data obtained from a qualitative investigation (24 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups) about love and partner relationships between young spaniards.The reflection on the concept of emotional work and how to identify it in the dynamics of a partner relationship enables us to identify some of the specific aspects in which it materializes in young couples, producing situations of inequality that cause conflicts, female frustrations and male bafflement.The analysis of the different ways that women live and handle this type of inequality is fundamental to understand the tensions that emerge when we compare everyday practices and the legitimate and modern discourses of egalitarianism.