In her non-fiction, ethnographic book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich journeys to find out if single mothers who depend wholly on the income from their low-income jobs can survive financially. To answer this question, Ehrenreich adopts several anthropological tactics as she does her fieldwork in three cities: Key West, Florida, Portland, Maine, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Throughout the book, Ehrenreich can be seen as a participant observer because she works with the women doing low wage jobs like waitressing, housekeeping, etc. Specifically, in the first chapter of the book, when Ehrenreich works at Hearthside, a restaurant in Key-West that is about forty-five minutes away from her home, she proves that …show more content…
In this case, by talking and forming bonds with her coworkers, she finds out about Lori and Pauline’s bad back, Helen’s “bum foot,” Margie’s arthritis, and Rosalie’s injured shoulder (p. 52). Also, to build upon the concept of agency, Ehrenreich details instances where she and her coworker are not able to act freely due to their work situations. In the first situation, Ehrenreich wishes to drink something but she cannot because “the rule is that no fluid or food item can touch a maid 's lips when she 's inside a house” (p. 49). Similarly, Ehrenreich details Holly, a pregnant maid who injures herself doing her job that continues to work despite of the pain she feels because “her husband beats her for missing work” (p. 63). These examples show that in this case, Ehrenreich cannot make her own free choice because of the rules of her job and Holly cannot afford to make her own free choice because of the people that depend on her; both situations reveal a lack of agency that most in working class undergo. During her ethnographic research, Ehrenreich builds upon the concept of hegemony as the notes her coworkers’ need of approval from their boss, Ted: “cleaning ladies, ditchdiggers, changers of adult diapers-these are the untouchables of a supposedly caste-free and democratic society. Hence the undeserved charisma of a man like Ted. He may be greedy and offhandedly cruel, but at The Maids he is the only living representative of that better world where people go to college and wear civilian clothes to work…” (p. 67). Here, the dominance that Ted established over the maids is not simply because he’s their boss, but because he is probably part of the middle class. Around the end of the chapter when Ehrenreich reveals that she was conducting her research to the maids, surprisingly, she does not gain an etic
Throughout the book, Ehrenreich can be seen as a participant observer because she works with the women doing low wage jobs like waitressing, housekeeping, etc. Specifically, in the first chapter of the book, when Ehrenreich works at Hearthside, a restaurant in Key-West that is about forty-five minutes away from her home, she proves that …show more content…
In this case, by talking and forming bonds with her coworkers, she finds out about Lori and Pauline’s bad back, Helen’s “bum foot,” Margie’s arthritis, and Rosalie’s injured shoulder (p. 52). Also, to build upon the concept of agency, Ehrenreich details instances where she and her coworker are not able to act freely due to their work situations. In the first situation, Ehrenreich wishes to drink something but she cannot because “the rule is that no fluid or food item can touch a maid 's lips when she 's inside a house” (p. 49). Similarly, Ehrenreich details Holly, a pregnant maid who injures herself doing her job that continues to work despite of the pain she feels because “her husband beats her for missing work” (p. 63). These examples show that in this case, Ehrenreich cannot make her own free choice because of the rules of her job and Holly cannot afford to make her own free choice because of the people that depend on her; both situations reveal a lack of agency that most in working class undergo. During her ethnographic research, Ehrenreich builds upon the concept of hegemony as the notes her coworkers’ need of approval from their boss, Ted: “cleaning ladies, ditchdiggers, changers of adult diapers-these are the untouchables of a supposedly caste-free and democratic society. Hence the undeserved charisma of a man like Ted. He may be greedy and offhandedly cruel, but at The Maids he is the only living representative of that better world where people go to college and wear civilian clothes to work…” (p. 67). Here, the dominance that Ted established over the maids is not simply because he’s their boss, but because he is probably part of the middle class. Around the end of the chapter when Ehrenreich reveals that she was conducting her research to the maids, surprisingly, she does not gain an etic