Post VIII

The sources significant to my research for a planned yet inexistent essay whose focus will be "demeaning" labor and it's general relation to inequality in the social organization of labor.

Eileen M. Otis. The Dignity of Working Women: Service, Sex, and the Labor Politics of Localization in China's City of Eternal Spring. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 52, p356-376 (Nov, 2008).

An article (diary?) on the gender, sexual, and ethnic labor politics in light of the experience of women working as sex workers at a five star hotel in China. It was written by Eileen M. Otis who was able to visit the hotel so frequently because of her volunteering as an English teacher, interviewed the various workers and people in the area. Very political and elaborate examination issues of class. Labor for young women is mostly service work and is closely related to sex work due to the exploitation of the ethnic minorities for tourists, who are usually sex tourists. Ultimately the main focus is the study of social and moral distinctions to further illustrate the organization of labor markets/regimes.

Gerald D. Jaynes. Identity and Economic Performance. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 568, No. 1, 128-139 (Jan, 2000).

An elaborate study of social status, class and identity when affected by low wage work or "demeaning" work with a focus on poor urban black men. Article discusses the influence and value of the labor on the individual, the individuals self-valuation, and the individuals evaluation of the ideologies and principals of the labor market. Introduces the aspect of most low wage work as slavery, referring to it as "slavelike". Also a short passage on those "lazy" people who don't work and the influence of white controlled work environments and networks on the blacks, their avoidance of them and why, and the identity issues that come into place.

"..if all of the deeply poor (not just a strong majority) were pure archetypes of the structural poor, then creating jobs of any kind would put most of the poor to work."

Joshua Phillips. Strippers United. Newsweek Web Exclusive. (Nov, 2000).

An interview with Julia Query the director of "Live Nude Girls Unite", a documentary on a group of San Franciscan women who work at a strip club and try to form a union.  Query is a grad school student working as a stripper, this has an initial negative impact on her mother who has a history of reaching out to New York City prostitutes. Query informs us of issues of class while discussing the deviation of society through sex work and the immoral connotations people associate with prostitution. She also discusses the arguments people have on the objectification of women, disregarding the porn industry and focusing on mainstream media whose limited representation of women has much more of a negative effect on the status of women in society.

Studs Terkel. A Pecking Order: Roberta Victor Interview. Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, p57-65 (Feb, 1997)

Terkel interviews Roberta a prostitute who discusses issues of identity, class and gender. She shares reflections on the influence of society on her status as a woman, john experiences, drugs as a form of escape, men, the middle class, reverse status in prison, and the different life she had as a call girl and then streetwalker. 

Studs Terkel. Footwork: Dolores Dante Interview. Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, p293-298 (Feb, 1997)

Terkel interviews Dolores a waitress at the same restaurant for twenty three years. Dolores elaborates on the issues of labor and class by discussing her position in the social organization of labor, the influence of her work on her customers. She also shares reflections on identity, class, her customers, her boss, and the work environment of the restaurant.

Post VII

Step three

I have several interviews which share similar aspects of work and key terms but my interests are quite general. I'm going to post some notes of my interests and my reflections on the interviews..

inequality in relation to emotions and appearance and it's influence on class in work environments

or

class in relation to inequality of emotions and appearance in work environments

?

 For this essay I am mostly interested in writing about social status, culture in work environments/ethics, and gender. Now this does not mean I'm going to focus on a topic directly related to class, but more of an elaboration on our culture/society as these come into play, such as what is acceptable or not in different work environments and why. This relates back to social status due to the influence of bourgeois ideals or the "higher" class and the restrictions placed on mostly women, although men have restrictions as well; both physical appearance & emotions are represented. With emotions I can speak a bit about emotional labor and the variation of it and how it relates to our social status.

I am heavily interested in the interview with Roberta Victor, the prostitute, who brings up many issues as well as the idea of "reverse status", which I would want to relate back to my interests of gender, work environments and class. I am mostly interested in this interview due to the fact that it is demonized by society yet traditional work environments inhabit just as much inequality and abuse (emotional and gender issues mostly).

I'm also interested in the interview with Dolores Dante whose wise elaboration on her condition (work, work environment, boss & customers) also represent these issues i'm interested in. She seems also to have her own version of class, related to the "reverse status" hookers have in prison, where she questions the notion that her position is that of low ability and status. She uses the example of housework being demeaning to housewives and their hiring of others to do the demeaning work for them. This is quite spectacular of an analyzation because cleaning today is actually a form of low class. This aspect of it being symbolic of low class and therefore demeaning is ultimately an influence of class and what I want to touch upon in my essay. This is because of the idea that a form of class exists in work environments causing certain work ethics. What is seen as being a "higher"form of class because of a certain amount of education or skills and the work environments for these people compared to the work environments of those who work in jobs which are seen as demeaning (prostitute, waitress, housecleaner).

Perhaps,
Does a form of class exist in work environments and what affect does it have on work ethics/ideals?

Due to my general ideas I currently do not have any solid research question so any help or clarification on the essay would be great.

Also, do I have to use an interview from the archives? I want to make sure since none truly stand out to me as being what I am looking for in my third essay.

Post V

A study of the Archive interview with Rosemary Pepe by Clifton Hood

In this interview Clifton was trying to figure out what Rosemary's grandfather did during his time in New York in the early 1900's. He returned to Italy in between his several jobs, which included working on the train station which was being built and opened in 1904. The interviewer is successful in the questions he asks leading to discussion of several aspects of her grandfathers life. The mention of the accident is quite informative of the work environment especially this aspect of being neglected proper care by the employers, touching on the subject of unions. The union (Local 14) is only briefly mentioned and lacking in information because the interviewee does not know much about it, though she does mention that her grandfather was not willing to disappear into history due to losing an eye (he learned how to operate different machines), displaying the bravery in his personality and the necessity to keep working. The interviewee does a good job of explaining her grandfathers life and his character, not to mention physical features. The environment she describes is descriptive of the traditions of living as the lower class and generally the way italian families lived during this era. She describes his way of supporting his family by working and then sending money to them. The experience is explained with a focus on the family and his affect on them. The daughters were not necessarily educated but became seamstresses, his wife is described as being a "respectable" superstitious italian woman who was very business minded ultimately creating her own shop which her husband (the grandfather) helped put together financially.

The experience of this italian family relate to our class through the harsh work environments the grandfather endured during his work with the subway. It seems he had an experience of neglect from his employers and a union would maybe have done something about this, this is of course also evident in the Wal-Mart course text "Up Against Wal-Mart" where unions are practically non-existent in the work environment letting employers/bosses become in an advantage to abuse your health. It also relates in terms of class and generally the disadvantages the lower classes have, when she explains about his trip to Argentina in hopes for some work from other members of the family and it becomes an issue because they can't support him therefore destroying his opportunity to have been able to work.

Post IV

My essay is based on topic one. This is not the final draft of my essay. I plan to further edit this but as of now this is what my conscious can muster.


Introduction

America’s society class structure is not only more beneficial for the wealthy but also white Americans. Racial injustice is evident in history where the white men built the structure of class, ultimately becoming the definition of class, leaving the other races to succumb and fail in their attempts to achieve in their society. In a modern point of view class while being relatively about wealth is just as much about race, bourgeois values, education, and work only slightly alternating the image of class since the earliest forms of societies where class has always existed and has even been much more divided. There is no piteous from this class of well off white people, especially those who stand in a position of power as documented in the New York Times article “In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap” written by Michael Luo and the speech “A More Perfect Union” by Barack Obama. In the modern world we may frown against these injustices but this evidence that offers an insight into the world of lost opportunities of African Americans, while taken into a larger perspective to represent any race or minority in this essay, brings up just as many questions as it answers. Racism is still existent in our society, more impersonal and quiet than it used to be, making certain races still exist as a form of taboo in itself. The issue of race affecting an individual’s class mobility is immense, rooting to the core of America where people blindly believe and shout that racism is over.

Excerpt | Middle Paragraph

Subsequently, much of the racism that occurs today is that of racial segregation. There are those issuing a red flag on others who are of a different race than them. This makes us curious as to why this person believes that the applicant’s race is representing the face behind the application. Race has been widely exploited as well as stereotyped in the press and in politics, forming a system of discrimination based on misinformation and generalization, leaving them at a huge disadvantage. In Obama’s speech he addresses an important representation of race in society: “Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussion of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correction or reverse racism” (370).  Even politics today blatantly used race as a form of message for understanding, most without any experience of racism themselves, instead of addressing the issue and promoting resolutions by educating their audience on the racism occurring in hiring and therefore making it a real issue. Racial injustice has not been addressed properly in this country making it a subject that triggers off emotional backlash where the “victimization” of African Americans is seen as tricking you into feeling sorry for them. If people cannot confront their own unsubconscious racism the opportunity to educate others will never evolve beyond the spreading of this injustice. To better confront racism and the issues that follow from it there must be better and honest coverage on the subject, whether in the media or in schools, to educate society of this hate. Not only would more people who are being discriminated against find this helpful for their opportunities in employment but also politics would be transformed because of this new knowledge that racism is indeed still occurring and not just in the minds of those who are discriminated against. 

I also still need a title...