To place federici in conversation with Scott Russell sanders essay by summarizing the main point of each

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Change in Concepts of Gender
Federici and Scott Russell are authors who try to define gender based on the roles that cultures dictate for the two sexes. Culture describes gender and stipulates the roles of females and males. In the society, individuals are born as either a male or a female. However, the community environment instills patterns and responsibilities according to the society understanding of gender. Eventually, the individual grows and takes shape and a characteristic as the setting defines. The characteristics influence one’s susceptibility to various health conditions and accessibility and usage of health services.
In the culture where Russell grew up, men were taught to be ‘handy” meaning they had to work and sweat to feed their children. The men were marginal farmers, welders, steel workers, carpenters and other jobs that require people to work with their bodies (Russell N.p). They worked the whole day not considering the weather and had to wake up before light. They had no resting days since they would work during the weekends and evening on their places such as tilling gardens, fixing broken down cars and hammering houses that were too leaky. According to Russell, the hard work deformed the facial appearances of men, made their nails black, split their hands, scared their bodies and even lost fingers. Gender roles, therefore, affected men’s health and wellbeing. From Russell’s culture, men worked hard for their women and children; this was a duty as defined by the culture.

Federici outlines the roles of women in their culture. She portrays them to be doing very hard work and essential duties. According to Federici, people tend to overlook the responsibilities of women because the society and not the women have defined the roles. She views housework as the most pervasive manipulation that ever exists because there are no wages and only imposed on women (Federici N.p). Nothing substantiates what the woman has done when doing housework. Many people view these duties as inferior work; therefore, they suggest that women do not need to struggle with home duties. Housework is not recognized as a social contract but rather a natural attribute to women. These concepts by the have naturally stifled and sexualize house duties (Federici N.p).
Federici tries to add what Russell ignores in his book, which is the work women do at home. Russell tries to portray that housework is nothing compared to what men do outdoors. Russell shows this by omitting to mention what women do while their men are at the workplaces. Federici, therefore, brings out the unwaged work (Federici N.p), which is the most challenging since no one rewards homemakers for the work well done. Federici tries to fix the missing parts in Russell’s book.
From the two authors, we can see that the society has defined gender roles. Men do handy jobs but at least receive payments, unlike women who work so hard in doing house chores but with no wages. The house duties are undermined because the society believes that house chores are feminine and therefore done by women naturally on the basis that they are female. However, we see that housework is just like any other work and should not be imposed on women especially the professionals who will be overworking themselves if they have to do both the house and career jobs.
Concepts of gender for example roles are continuously changing in our society as many people are trying to give them better definition. More women are educated and therefore have their careers decreasing the numbers of homemakers whose primary job are household chores. Women get employment in the sectors that were initially male dominated, for example, engineering and law. Men are also adjusting to do the housework and helping their wives at home. Such people no longer view duties as feminine. Women are also engaging in politics; a job that was initially deemed a male job. Furthermore, in some circumstances women perform better than men do in governments. Some women are even engaging in construction works and doing all the handy jobs. They have gone beyond the social structure of their duties. They are going beyond their gender-defined roles and going into those activities that ensure proper utilization of community resources.
The change comes because of many things in the society. For example, gender equity, equality, and women empowerment. Federici says that the change came because women demanded wages for the housework. By demanding for the salaries, it would mean women refusing to work as the expression of their natures. Housework must be redefined by first determining the meaning of work on its own and therefore consider home care duties as work which needs rewards. Federici also says that if a woman goes for a second job it should not be an extension of the homemaker duties. Women should not be afraid of identifying themselves as housewives as it is work just like others. The society can achieve these dynamics and overcome the stereotypes if women are empowered to understand their value and place in their community. Women also need provision with equal chances and resources as their male counterparts.

Works cited
Federici, Silvia. “Wages Against House Work.” Caring Labour. N.p., 1975. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Russell, Scott. “The Men We Carry In Minds.” Mundo Cabriole academics. N.P., 1984. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.