Hard, boring, repetitive work that feels exhausting and unpleasant, especially when there's little reward or interest in it.
From the verb 'drudge' (a person doing tedious work), possibly from Middle English 'drugge,' with uncertain ultimate origin. The suffix '-ery' denotes the act or condition of performing such work.
Before machines and electricity, drudgery was the reality for most working people—grinding grain, hauling water, washing clothes by hand. Industrial inventions promised to free us from drudgery, but many people find themselves in new forms of it today!
Drudgery has been historically associated with women's domestic and service labor, which was both unpaid and undervalued. The term carries an implication that such work is inherently tedious, reinforcing narratives that diminished women's labor contributions rather than recognizing systemic inequity.
Use neutrally when describing repetitive tasks, but pair with recognition of who performs such work and under what conditions. Avoid implying the work itself is inherently dull versus being rendered so by poor conditions.
["repetitive labor","routine work","routine tasks"]
Women have innovated efficiency systems and transformed service work through labor organizing; recognizing this agency counters the passive 'drudgery' framing.
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