Within the field of the sociology of work, Hochschild’s concept of emotional labor is considered one of the author’s most relevant and enduring contributions. For Hochschild, the expression and management of emotion are social processes. What people feel and express depend on societal norms, one’s social category and position, and cultural fac¬tors. Emotional expression and management are learned largely in the private sphere at first and later through participation in more public realms. In this contribution, we first clarify the concepts of emotional labor and emotion work; then we illustrate how these concepts represent a key element to understand gender structures and visualize the relationship between micro- and macro- dimensions; finally, we highlight the contemporary relevance of Hochschild's theorisations.