Gender Globalization
Rocio Casillas
Women and Gender Studies 205-4
Instructor: Grace Kim
February 17, 2015
“Invisible” Labor Force What does it mean for something to be invisible? People can contribute their own reasons as to why something is invisible. And, in reality, a lot of these reasons can be true. But what about when we think about what can make a person invisible? Clearly, we as humans do not have any sort of super power that can make us invisible. So what does it mean when Barbara Erenreich and Arlie Hochschild say that there are women considered “the world’s most invisible women” (Global Women)? Firstly, the women they are referring to in this statement are the immigrant domestic workers that are in the global economy. The women are involved in the pink-collar work that for these immigrant workers generally includes nannies, housecleaners, and babysitters. It is, for the most part, part-time work that is fairly low-waged, needs little to no skills and offers few advancement opportunities. Over time this type of worker has been increasing its demand, for the reason of deindustrialization. Because of this increased demand for informal “pink-collar work” the working women migrated to affluent countries like the United States (Lecture 1/29). People in the United States, generally the ones who are affluent, tend to afford to hire one of these domestic workers as their private workers. They become so private that they do become “invisible” in a sense. Employers have begun to ignore the work that their workers are doing for them. They simply employ them and give them orders. They have no room to see them as family or friends, almost as if they were not human. They are just simply the employee. In past times, the number pink-collar workers were not high at all. It was not until deindustrialization that this number began to increase. This period of deindustrialization occurred when the economy began shifting from manufactured-based to service-based. The increased demand for
Women and Gender Studies 205-4
Instructor: Grace Kim
February 17, 2015
“Invisible” Labor Force What does it mean for something to be invisible? People can contribute their own reasons as to why something is invisible. And, in reality, a lot of these reasons can be true. But what about when we think about what can make a person invisible? Clearly, we as humans do not have any sort of super power that can make us invisible. So what does it mean when Barbara Erenreich and Arlie Hochschild say that there are women considered “the world’s most invisible women” (Global Women)? Firstly, the women they are referring to in this statement are the immigrant domestic workers that are in the global economy. The women are involved in the pink-collar work that for these immigrant workers generally includes nannies, housecleaners, and babysitters. It is, for the most part, part-time work that is fairly low-waged, needs little to no skills and offers few advancement opportunities. Over time this type of worker has been increasing its demand, for the reason of deindustrialization. Because of this increased demand for informal “pink-collar work” the working women migrated to affluent countries like the United States (Lecture 1/29). People in the United States, generally the ones who are affluent, tend to afford to hire one of these domestic workers as their private workers. They become so private that they do become “invisible” in a sense. Employers have begun to ignore the work that their workers are doing for them. They simply employ them and give them orders. They have no room to see them as family or friends, almost as if they were not human. They are just simply the employee. In past times, the number pink-collar workers were not high at all. It was not until deindustrialization that this number began to increase. This period of deindustrialization occurred when the economy began shifting from manufactured-based to service-based. The increased demand for