What is mental load ?

Mental load, or emotional labour, is a sociological concept often relating to the daily management of a household. Research has shown that within traditional families, the strain of mental load is more often than not taken on by women. It’s become a feminist issue due to this imbalance.

Early discussions relating to mental load date back to the 1980s. Sociologists noted how women in heterosexual relationships were often just as busy with managing household tasks or family life, as with their own job. And more so than men, in fact.

In theory, homosexual couples should be less affected by the mental load, due to the gendered nature of the issue. But often one partner ends up taking on more mental load than the other, especially when there are big social differences between the two. That could be a difference in salary between the two partners for example.

The term mental load has become more widespread in recent years, thanks in no small part to French comic strip creator Emma. She compares the traditional family to a small company, where the woman is a project manager in charge of household tasks. The male partner is simply an underling waiting on orders to carry out. The underling justifies his inaction by saying “You should have asked!”

Mental load is a continuous cycle of organising domestic life. Tasks like buying milk, paying utility bills, organizing the kid’s birthday or booking medical appointments always have to be remembered. What’s more, this load by its nature entails invisible additional responsibility. While invisible, it’s definitely stressful and often forces women to make sacrifices when it comes to their social lives. 

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