Theresa Wellington- McGilton
Professor Simpson
Response Paper
30 March 2021
Work & Leisure in Everyday Life
In the essay “ Work and Leisure in Everyday Life” Lefebvre talks about the global structure of family, life, work and leisure in terms of every day. Throughout the Middle Ages there wasn’t a difference between where someone lived and where they worked. There was no clear distinction between the two, they were basically the same thing. However, in the age of industrialization you started to see a shift. It was decided that separating work and home was important for everyone’s well-being. Work was something that the people had to do to survive, so it wasn’t an option and wasn’t very enjoyable. Our author connects this point to the people being disconnected from life, what is a life if all you do is work?
The people sought ways to “reconnect” with life, things that were enjoyable for them. What came of that was leisure activities, activities that took away from the everyday stress of life and would help to relax them. Leisure gave a certain freedom, allowing the people to express themselves and be who they are outside of the work place. By the end of the essay we know this; everyday life is filled with a combination of three things work, family and leisure. All three are vital to our survival because they each play a different part. Work keeps us afloat, family keeps us going and leisure helps us be more present in every other area of life.
Hi Theresa,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree with you about how leisure activities were stress free and relaxing which made me think about the peasants in The Eaters and Eaten. Whereas work is are the bourgeois life because of how they want to look busy and entertain their life.