Global women: Barbara Ehrenreich's analysis of gender and work

Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild, examines the phenomenon of globalization on the lives of women around the world and on the communities from which they came. According to the editors, globalization and the "new economy" have caused a massive migration of women from developing nations to first world countries. These migrating women, moreover, fulfill traditional women's roles as caregivers in the domestic or sex trade arenas. "The lifestyles of the First World are made possible by a global transfer of the services associated with a wife's traditional role -- child care, homemaking, and sex -- from poor countries to rich ones," (4). Reaping the benefits of cheap labor, people in the first world knowingly or unknowingly decimate social structures in the migrants' countries of origin. However, the governments of sending countries sometimes "actively encourage women to migrate in search of domestic jobs" in first world nations. Ehrenreich and Hochschild discuss the multiple and varied reasons for the massive migration of women throughout the world, ranging from economic necessity to social and political realities. The editors present their topic as a sociological, economic, and political problem.

At the same time, the contributing authors acknowledge the essential symbiosis of the relationship between the first and third worlds. For example, on page 256, Sassen states, "Through their work in both global cities and survival circuits, women, so often discounted as valueless economic actors, are crucial to building new economies and expanding existing ones." Sassen's chapter offers an "alternative narrative about globalization," suggesting that existing power structures be challenged from within (p. 256). Global Women is a compilation of sixteen essays. Each author contributes a unique perspective on the issue of women and globalization, focusing on a specific geographic area and/or a specific social or political topic. Some chapters, such as Cheever's "The Nanny Dilemma," Ehrenreich's "Maid to Order," and Brennan's "Selling Sex for Visas" delve into the various manifestations of women's work in the service industries mentioned in the title of the book. The essays vary between the subjective experiences of female domestic migrant workers, as with Constable's "Filipina Workers in Hong Kong Homes: Household Rules and Regulations," while other chapters are purely objective, offering facts, data, and statistics on migrating women. Therefore, the methods used to collect the information contained in Global Women ranges from personal experience, anecdotal evidence and case study to scholarly research and socio-economic and historical analysis.

Part Two

The consequences of globalization on women, and of migrant women on existing social and economic institutions, are vast. Furthermore, the implications of women's migratory labor patterns affect receiving as well as sending countries. In "Love and Gold," Hochschild describes the trend as reflecting traditional, or more recognizable, forms imperialism. "That openly coercive, male-centered imperialism, which persists today, was always paralleled by a quieter imperialism in which women were more central," (26). Now that much of the developing world has already been plundered for its natural resources, female labor remains a vibrant and thriving economic frontier. Service professions, whether legal and legitimate like housekeeping and childcare or illegal and illegitimate like the sex trade, provide a bustling form of trade between first and third world nations. Therefore, one way to look at the phenomenon of women's labor migration is to frame it in an imperial context and critique is based on the detrimental effects that imperialism has had on much of the world. The wide gap between rich and poor, between have and have not, is exacerbated by any continuation of imperialist practices. In this sense, women who migrate from developing to developed nations are not much different than the goods that are produced in sweat shops for pennies and sold on the shelves of Wal-Mart at a hefty markup. Imperialism is destructive to all but a select few persons in positions of financial and political power.

Also, because female migration is often not coerced but undertaken by some degree of choice, the type of imperialism arising from the female labor force is subtle and generally overlooked by sociologists, economists, and policy makers. As a result, humanitarian issues can easily fall by the wayside. For example, the women who leave their countries of origin sometimes leave behind family members and in some cases, husbands and children. The flow of labor from developing to developed nations depletes the sending nations' labor force and further impoverishes them, increasing their dependency on economic powerhouses like the United States. As economies in the third world collapse, workers, farmers, and families suffer from a lack of affordable health care, education and other social services. A potential side-effect in sending countries may be higher rates of organized and unorganized crime as means to supplement meager incomes. Other side effects include the loss of age-old cultural traditions that were maintained by women. Indigenous cultures in which females passed on wisdom, folklore, and knowledge to their offspring suffer when females leave to take care of the families of wealthier strangers in far-off nations. Fewer women in the population may cause the disintegration of cultural and familial ties.

Part Three

Ehrenreich and Hochschild present their material in a well-organized manner and stick close to the three specific areas of women's work outlined in the subtitle of the book: nannies, maids, and sex workers. Furthermore, the authors offer a wide range of perspectives because of their differing areas of specialization. Some focus on Asia, others on Central and South America. Issues related to sexuality and gender politics as well as to general economic and social trends are addressed throughout the essays included in the book.

Each of the articles included in Global Woman draws attention to the severity of the problem. For example, Zarembka's "America's Dirty Work: Migrant Maids and Modern-Day Slavery" illustrates the high instance of abuse among migrant female workers. In "Because She Looks Like a Child," Bales also uses the harsh terminology of slavery to underscore the extent of the problem.