å Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

Part A

In the essay, “Doing Gender by Giving Good Service”, Elaine Hall explains how gender roles play a big part of how people are treated and how a persons gender scripts of “good service. It tends to break it down to role and gender played. Friendliness, deference, and flirting is perceived asa stereotype for waitressing. On page 456, Hall explains how waitresses have to preform a job flirt,  and we know that the only reason they have to do it, is because thats the way they will make their money. Waitresses are perceived to be happy-go-jolly cheerful attitudes. She explains that because of her “gender”  employers are likely to hire women for jobs like these, or other like, house keeping,  My understanding of “to give good service” has to do with a man and a women’s job. In a way it also shows us how the gender in organization acted upon. She also talks about gender-neutral jobs such a policemen. She explains how women and men working in this type of organization are perceived differently, and described women police officers are the “problem resolving” or conflict. How Genders play a role in jobs.

PART B

In the essay, “Wage Penalty for Motherhood,” by Michelle Budig and England, I completely agree with their entire point of view. In the essay it shows that mothers earn lower wages that other women women without children. Mothers may earn less money than women without children because they lose job experience, be less productive, trade off higher wages for mother-friendly jobs and be discriminated against employers (204). In page (204), Budig and England explain how having children and in order to work it can cause many interruptions. I agree with this statement because as a Mother of 2 (small) children sometimes I cant work because I don’t have childcare or enough money to pay for childcare. At a point in my life, when I had my first child, because he was a premature baby, I was unable to go to work or finish school because I had to stay home to care for him. That is an interruption and its also like a small break from school.

Another point she mentions is that mothers choose jobs that have less energy, flexible hours, demand for travel, on weekends, daycare of site, availability” (page 207) OnE advantage that women without children is that they can work without any limitations. They will be able to work all kinds of hours and overtime without a problem. This is also true, I also speak about my own experience as a working mother, that there aren’t many people available (for children) unless you pay them. You must be able to work flexible just because you have children or incase there is an emergency. When you have an employee who doesn’t have these things extra things on their plate have nothing to worry about.

On page 209, They tell us that discrimination is used against mothers as far as, education, experience, work less. (Budig and England) That one of the differences against mothers and other women is work effect or not enough work effort, which I disagree because regardless of how “tired” I am I still have to get and provide for my children, why, because I am the caregiver and because no one else will. Which also leads us too the statement the writes say where there is an interruption from your daily life. Part time and full time work, school take approximately one-third wage penalty for motherhood,  5% lower wages.  Its unfortunate how mothers  or women in general are discriminated upon and taken advantage of, when we do double the work.

Toniann German

Soc: #9

I personally agree that Barbara Ehrenreich could have done her research from her study. I don’t feel that she necessarily had to live the life of a worker to understand how they survive off of the little wage they earn. I also feel that by giving herself limitations she didn’t not allow herself to fully understand or experience the hardships they must deal with as a result of their pay. I feel her half-gained experience was not necessary for the calculation of numbers. Most of her work could have been done threw calculation, interviews, and shadow observations.

I do however believe that it is important for her to have these experiences so that she may understand how finical hardship can have a strain on one’s life, emotionally, mentally and physically. From her study Barbara could have seen that it is nearly impossible to survive off of such minimal wage. However, when looking at it from this perspective we tend to micro manage others money and make judgments on what they spend, deciding for them what it is a necessity or not. Through her experience I feel she understood that it is easy for one to micromanage anothers money however when you are in their shoe’s you begin to realize the hardship and sacrifices one must make.

I do not agree with the parameters the she set up for her “Research”. If you are really trying to understand the way that a person on minimum wage survives then you must have no rules or parameters and let your self be vulnerable to the real and brutal world we live in. She had luxuries such as being able to use her car, where most people making such a small wage take public transit and cannot afford a car yet alone meet their basic needs. Another rule she set for herself was finding a place to live that offered security and privacy. I didn’t agree with this rule of hers because many people do not have the luxury of having a secure place, it factors in to all the other stresses in their life and is most times a direct result of the wage they are making.

I give her credit for trying but the truth behind it is (in-which she admits) that because she had a better life she was never any real fear, or danger. The things she went through were not real in a sense, because they were happening as an experiment and not as something that she really had to worry about.