Glenn Summary and Response

Evelyn Nakano Glenn proposes an intriguing theory in her essay “From Servitude to Service Work” that gender and race superimpose upon one another. In other words, the sexual and racial hierarchies should not be considered as separate, unique entities, but as a combination of the two. In order to illustrate her theory, Glenn examines the regional and historical basis behind “reproductive labor” in America by focusing on domestic service of Blacks in the South, Mexicans in the Southwest, Asians in the West and Hawaii, and finally the transition from domestic service to institutionalized service using the nursing labor force as a case study (3).

I have to admit that I’m glad I read the Ehrenreich and Kessler-Harris essays before reading this one; otherwise I would have been totally lost and bored to death. I believe that Glenn’s essay does the best job of the three in unifying the themes of race, class, and gender because she follows up each of her ideas concerning these themes with concrete evidence. One of Glenn’s concluding remarks caught my attention: “forging a political agenda that addresses the universal needs of women is highly problematic not just because women’s priorities differ but because gains for some groups may require a corresponding loss of advantage and privilege for others” (37). Today, there is still a disparity between the number of women and men in high paying, prestigious jobs in the workforce. I would like to see some recent research on these statistics. I suspect that the gap between men and women’s positions is narrowing. I would like to hear from Glenn on her perception of women in the competitive labor market today in America.