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Ehrenreich describes how she felt invisible, almost completely unnoticed by the women she cleaned houses for, “Mostly, though, she will not see you at all and may even sit down with her mail at a table in the very room you are cleaning, where she would remain completely unaware of your existence unless you were to crawl under that table to and start gnawing away at her ankles” (481, Ehrenreich). Ehrenreich was made to feel inferior when she was working at Merry Maids, in a similar way to how bell hooks felt at school. If you treat someone like they are inferior, eventually they may begin to believe it
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I have been able to experience the culture of the countries I was visiting and able to observe the differences between theirs and mine. One thing caught my attention very quickly when I was visiting Ireland this past summer, and it was something I noticed in Italy too. That is that all of the people typically live the same. There was hardly any division of social class, something quite different from what goes on back in America. I live in the small and widely considered wealthy town of Haddonfield. If you drive through the bordering town of Collingswood, you will find yourself entering one of the country’s poorest and most dangerous cities of Camden. Within the distance of a few miles, there are mansions and run-down poverty-stricken neighborhoods, and the lives of those that live in them are really almost worlds apart. Why is that, when they live so near to each other? One argument could be made that the people of the two communities have nothing in common. Another argument could be made that the people of Haddonfield should be doing more to reach out and lend a helping hand to those in need in Camden, and that the wealthy (who can afford it) should pay higher taxes so more money can go to help the people who need it. I personally believe the latter. I also noticed that in Ireland and Italy, most of the citizens were all of the same race and nationality, so there appeared to be little to no racism. Racism and poverty disadvantage millions of people in America, but these problems appear to be much less in other countries. Unlike America, in countries where the wealth is typically spread out more equally, it gives people better opportunities to support their families and lead successful lives. It may be harder to get great wealth in many other countries, but there is less
I have been able to experience the culture of the countries I was visiting and able to observe the differences between theirs and mine. One thing caught my attention very quickly when I was visiting Ireland this past summer, and it was something I noticed in Italy too. That is that all of the people typically live the same. There was hardly any division of social class, something quite different from what goes on back in America. I live in the small and widely considered wealthy town of Haddonfield. If you drive through the bordering town of Collingswood, you will find yourself entering one of the country’s poorest and most dangerous cities of Camden. Within the distance of a few miles, there are mansions and run-down poverty-stricken neighborhoods, and the lives of those that live in them are really almost worlds apart. Why is that, when they live so near to each other? One argument could be made that the people of the two communities have nothing in common. Another argument could be made that the people of Haddonfield should be doing more to reach out and lend a helping hand to those in need in Camden, and that the wealthy (who can afford it) should pay higher taxes so more money can go to help the people who need it. I personally believe the latter. I also noticed that in Ireland and Italy, most of the citizens were all of the same race and nationality, so there appeared to be little to no racism. Racism and poverty disadvantage millions of people in America, but these problems appear to be much less in other countries. Unlike America, in countries where the wealth is typically spread out more equally, it gives people better opportunities to support their families and lead successful lives. It may be harder to get great wealth in many other countries, but there is less