essay II

Gender is shown to be one of the greatest separations in the work place. While not the same, the work of both men and women have benefits and setbacks. In the world today, men are shown to be the bread bringers of their house hold. While the women just stay home and take care of the kid. Also if they do work they get a job that pays less then a mans do. Latey women are about to get the same level of work as a man or higher. These ideas are found in pieces of writing. In an interview, Studs Terkel talk to a stewardesses named Sara Jaffe, and talk about an example of a job that came easy for women. He also tak to her about how she got the job and the benefits. In the second passage called "The politics of Housework" by Pat Mainrdi, talks about the true lines of work for an house hold couple. Using both of the passages, the stereotypes of both genders, of men and women have an impact on their line of work. In the interview with a women name Sara Jaffe, Studs Terkel talk to her about an example of the line of work women do. In the beginning of the interview, Jaffe begins to talk to Terkel about life as a stewardesses. As Jaffe stated "I think our average age is twenty-six. But our supervisors tell us what kind of make-up to wear, what kind of lipstick to wear, if our hair is not the right style for us, if we're not smiling enough. They even tell us how to act when you're on a pass"(Terkel,42). In the work place the women are shown to not have any say at the work place. The work that they are able to get is base on their own looks. The women aren't treated like people but like dolls due to the fact the they are force to wear what their supervisors told them to wear. In this case the recognition that women get as a stewardesses are base on looks. Later in the interview, Jaffe told Terkel one of the job benefits she gets as an stewardesses. Terkel then later put a sidenote about one benefit Jaffe gets. He stated "In New York, stewardesses live five or six girls to one apartment. They think they can get by because they're in and out so much. But there's gonna be a few nights they're all gonna be home and a couple of 'em will have to sleep on the floor"(Terkel,43). In the culture it is beileved that everthing comes easy for women. This show that women can not only get a job base on their looks, but also don't have to worry about housing. One of the sterotypes of a women is that they don't have to be smart but as long as their hot enough they can get what ever they want. Being a stewardesses is an example of this. When it comes to men, they don't have this benefit. In a passage called "The politics of housework" by Pat Mainardi, she goes in to detail on a line of work that man do at home. In the middle of the passage, Mainardi talks about how men are able to go far in work. She states "Man's accomplishment have always depended on getting help from other people, mostly women. What great man would have accomplished what he did if he had to do his own house work"(Mainardi). This show that man couldn't have gotten where they are at without help from other. This could be either from their wife or their boss. Also due to the fact that the men are the bread bringers they need to put 100% into their jobs and not the house works. This idea also goes back to the women, because with the men busy the women have no choice but to do all the housework. Mainardi later in the passage talks about an idea of men in the work place. Mainardi states "In a sense, all men everywhere are slightly schizoid-divorced from the reality of maintaining life. This makes it easier for them to play games with it"(Mainardi). This shows that over time men have sometimes put work over themselfs. This leads them to become distances from not only their housework, but also their familys. The recongnition that the men get are hard working due to the fact their minds into their work. This isn't like women because since they are mostly in the house they have a better connection to their homelife then the men. In the end of the day the idea of gender in the work place have a big impact. For women it's the idea of trying to get to that same status as men. But in the end, they are able to get that status but not in the same way as men. For men it's the idea of trying to supports ones family on their own. But when it comes to the idea of supporting the housework it's another story. Men and Women even though difference have the impact on their line of work.

ESSAY 2. 

The beliefs culture has had on women and men and how they are “like” has deeply affected the views and actions of society. From how/where they work, to how they are treated not only on the job but also at home, and the recognition they receive from the work they do or do not do. In text Exploring the Managed Heart by C. Wright Mills and in article The Politics of Housework by Pat Mainardi, both authors seem to come to an agreement that society has utterly managed to segregate women and men when it comes to making a living.

The ideas about gender affects the work one does in many ways. In society it is believed that women are more “emotional” so therefore they should work at home, take care of kids, work at nursing homes, become nurses, or any job that requires an emotional attachment to another person. While men are believed to be professional, strong, and sophisticated, so therefore they are viewed as doctors, office men, negotiators, construction men, and mostly jobs that are “white-collar” or jobs that require physical strength. Centuries ago it was believed that women should be absolute “housewives,” women did not have careers, they stayed home, took care of kids, cleaned the house, and had events with the rest of the housewifes. Although over the centuries, times have changed, most cultures still have the same kind of idea. For example, now a days, a couple with children, both have careers, and both work busy jobs. Although both work, it seems like the wife tends to work double. At work and at home. She might confront her spouse about it. It only seems fair that if both have jobs, then both should be doing housework. Yet something seems to happen when most men are confronted with house work, “I don’t mind sharing the housework, but I don’t do it very well. We should each do things that we’re best at.” (Paragraph 4, The Politics of Housework) Also suggesting that it is in a woman’s nature to do house work, not in mens. Stereotypes like “It is in your nature” have essentially set this mindset to the working community. For example, although it is illegal now, women were once (and still may be) paid less than a man who does the exact job as her. Why? It was believed that men worked due to the fact that they had to maintain their wife and family. Which was true, but it was also believed that women worked just to have a little more money in their pockets. Which might of been true but not always. So due to that little stereotype, till this day (although illegal in the United States) some women are paid less than men. (To be continued)

Assignment for Monday October 21st.

Read Paul Krugman's "Confronting Inequality" from They Say, I Say.  No written assignment, but think about the questions he asks about inequality and the different answers he considers, argues against, and argues for.

Do the blogpost on Jaffe and Hochschild if you haven't already (see below).

If you wish to revise your first essay, begin working on this, due November 4th. If you choose not to, you'll apply our in-class revision work to the next essay.

Assignment for Wednesday, October 16th

(Re)-read Sarah Jaffe's "A Day without Care," and read Arlie Russel Hochschild's "Exploring the Managed Heart." (Both are handouts; you can also find Jaffe's piece here. Write a short blog post of at least 300 words on ONE of these topics. You'll develop these more in your next essay.

1) Hochschild begins by comparing the work of a child in a wallpaper factory in the 19th century, as described by Marx, to the work of a flight attendant. What connections does she see between these workers? What does she mean by "emotional labor"? Who do you think has a "better" or "worse" job? Whose job is more or less alienating and why?

2) Jaffe talks about the efforts of "care workers" to improve their jobs. What does she mean by a "care worker"? What particular challenges do these workers face when they take action to improve their jobs? How does what she calls "traditional femininity" connect to these issues?

Essay One Revision Guidelines

Revisions of your first essay are due Monday, November 4th. If you wish to revise your essay, follow these guidelines: 

- Revising is not the same as editing. You want to correct typos and grammatical errors, but doing only this will not improve your grade. 

- Be sure you're putting your texts into relationship with each other: put them in the same paragraph and perhaps the same sentence.

- Having done more work, go back to your first paragraph and think about your main idea ("thesis") that responds to the questions in the assignment. 

- Use chapters from They Say on summary, quotation, analysis and transitions to add you.

- Consider meeting with me or going to the writing center B200 to work on your essay. You don't need an appointment to go to the writing center: just come at the beginning of a class hour. 

- Turn in both the graded version of your essay and the revised version. I'll give you the new grade. If you go from a C- to  an A, you get an A. I won't lower your grade no matter what, but if you don't do any real revisions, I won't raise it either. 

Essay One

This essay will build on your first two blog posts. Choose ONE of the topics listed below. We'll work on making connections between texts and using them to support your idea.  You can draw on your own experiences but the main focus should be on our texts. Your essay should be at least 600 words, typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. 

Use internal documentation to introduce your sources but need not include a works cited page. We will discuss internal documentation in class.

Option One: Explore the concept of “alienation” discussed in the excerpts from The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 by Karl Marx. 

Begin by summarizing your understanding of the term and the particular aspects of it in which you are most interested. Then discuss how this concept applies or does not apply to the accounts of work we read in at least two of these texts: “Who Built the Pyramids,” the Gawker post(s) on working at Wal-Mart, "Blue Collar Brilliance," and "Wall Street State of Mind."

Use at least one direct quotation from each of these three texts. We will discuss how to quote in class, and the chapter on quotation in They Say, I Say will also help you with this. 

 

Some questions you MIGHT consider include:

            - What factors determine if a worker feels alienated?

            - What kinds of jobs are most likely to create alienation? 

            - What effects does alienation have on workers?

            - What effects does alienation have on culture or society as a whole?

            - Is it possible to have work without alienation? Why or why not? If so, what would this work look like?

            - How useful do you think the concept of alienation is in helping us understand the world of work today?

You do NOT need to answer all these questions or answer them in order: use however many will help you write a well-developed essay.

Option two: In this essay, will explore the notion of status: what it is, who has it, and who should have it.  Compare the ideas about status in at least two of these texts:  “Who Built the Pyramids,” the Gawker post(s) on working at Wal-Mart, "Blue Collar Brilliance," and "Wall Street State of Mind."

Use at least one direct quotation from each of these three texts.

Some questions you MIGHT consider include:

            - What does each text say about what gives someone status?

            - What does this distribution of status tell us about what the culture described values or considers important, and the kind of work it values? 

            - What are the signs of this status and some of the ways it is expressed? 

            - What does each author think about who is given status as opposed to who should be given status? 

            - What impact does status or a lack of status have on the people described in these texts?

You do NOT need to answer all these questions or answer them in order: use however many will help you write a well-developed essay.

We will brainstorm and do in-class writing to help you start this essay during the week of September 23rd. For Monday, September 30th, post a draft to your blog. A hard copy of your final essay is due in class on Monday, October 7th. 

Exploring the Managed Heart

In the article “Exploring the Managed Heart” the author is making a comparison between two kinds of jobs. One of them is about a child in the 19^th century who was 7 years old and he worked many hours in a wallpaper factory and the other one is about a woman from the 20^th century who worked as a flight attendant. Although both jobs are totally different, they have a connection between them such as, physical, mental and emotional work. In regards to the physical labor, the child worked as a machine with his arms doing the same movements over and over again in the factory and the flight attendant had to use her body to push the meals carts from top to bottom. The mental work, the boy had to count and memorize the amount of rolls of wallpapers that he had during the production, and the stewardess had to maintain concentration during every occasion or condition with a firm attentiveness, every order or petition must be accomplish with effectiveness during the entire flight. And the last one is emotional work, the flight attendant always had to show a smile without care even if she is sad and also she had to take a control of customers about a bad situation that could happen in the airplane. In the case of the little boy, although he was being exploiting and tired, he tends to show care for his job for the necessity of being employed.

I think that the flight attendant has a better job than the little boy because she has benefits like a good paid and also people tend to look stewardess with respect and with a status. Unlike to the work of the boy is alienated because his boss did not care if the child was tired to exploiting him or about the feelings that he could have, but the most important he did not care about the age that this child was nor he was all about slavering his workers. In addition to that, I think that the people who work in factories do not have any status because anybody gives them recognition about the good work that they are doing.