Brianna Wright on "Introduction" to Global Women: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy

          In the piece entitled, “Global Women”, authors Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Hochschild write of a rise in the globalization of care, in regard to how women from poorer countries migrate to more affluent countries to do what is considered to be “women’s work” (i.e. being a nanny, maid, sex worker, etc.) This is due to the rise in affluent women in the workforce as an effect of Second Wave Feminism.

            This issue has been prevalent for decades, and it’s a complex one to discuss. On one hand, the fact that women are now able to be prominent forces in the workplace is certainly a good thing. However, these working women are disparately white and rich, therefore leaving the jobs of the home (cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children) to poorer, women of color, a lot of whom come from other countries in order to fulfill this work. I think the authors’ perspective on these matters is spot-on. Something that is equally appalling is that these migrant workers often have children of their own back home that require the same love and support as other children, but cannot get it. The issue of caring for children in poverty versus leaving children with money is a battle that women from these countries of the Global South have to deal with every day.

            It is saddening and disheartening that mothers from other countries cannot even be with their children for the sakes of taking care of other people’s children. While these women are able to make more money than if they were in their home country, it’s a price that shouldn’t be asked of mothers to pay in the first place. Yes, it is important for American women to be able to work and at fair wages. However, the individuals who benefit the most from this are white affluent women, and therefore this concept of women being “free” to work isn’t necessarily true if all women (including WOC, poor women, etc.) aren’t given the same benefits as the upper-middle class.

            An example of this kind of injustice can be seen in the movie, “La misma luna” (Under the Same Moon), where a mother is forced to leave her son in Mexico to work as a maid for an affluent woman in Los Angeles. The movie centers around the young boy attempting to find his mother after the death of his grandmother, which can show the kind of strain children from other countries are put under when they don’t have their parents to care for them. The mother is treated horribly by her employer, who continually toils with the notion of deporting the mother. At the end of the movie, all is happy and pleasant due to the reunion of their family; however, this is not the same reality for other families forced into separation through globalization.

            Something that I think should be discussed in class is the role of Second Wave Feminism in the oppression of other groups; is it really “feminism” if it oppresses women who aren’t white and affluent?