Margaret Wente: We are witnessing the passing of working-class masculinity

Submitted by anthony on Mon, 2009-05-25 17:55

Article here. Excerpt:

'As low- and semi-skilled manual jobs disappear, working-class men are getting hammered - and so is their masculinity. “Manual labour has been a key source of identity, pride, self-esteem and power for working-class men,” says a recent British study, which set out to probe a fascinating question: What makes these men so unemployable?

The conventional answer is that their education levels are too low and their skills are too poor. But the more accurate answer is that they're psychologically mismatched to the seismic shifts in our economy. The new economy (over the long term) is creating tons of service jobs in retail, customer support, and personal care. The trouble is that these jobs require temperamental attributes that are stereotypically feminine - things like patience, a pleasant demeanour, deference to the customer and the ability to empathize and connect. Another way to put it is that these jobs require emotional labour, not manual labour. And women, even unskilled women, are much better at emotional labour than men are.'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

customers service, from what i can tell, is not so much about empathy and emotions as it is about holding the urge to bash their face in because they're

so

friggin

STUPID

i'm not saying every customer is that way but it's no minority either. i work in a supermarket and some people can't even find the cereal aisle even though the WHOLE AISLE is covered in cereal boxes. what are you, blind? or just lazy?

i'm not surprised that women are typically hired for those jobs because they mostly just smile and do what they're told. as handy as it would be, i can't just sit there and smile. it may not be the best choice but sometimes i can't help but to act rudely to annoying customers.

luckily, they keep me despite those shortcomings because in other areas, i do a better job than most of the staff.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by dudejo on Tue, 2009-05-26 12:39

manonthestreet

It's a very strange view of the economy that thinks it is fuelled by empathy and not production. Some how I think these women are in some sort of daydream and don't understand that we only have things because somebody makes them. In the end those that can only offer empathy are just parasites.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by trotter on Tue, 2009-05-26 17:34

that's news to me. Nobody, man or woman, has shown any deference to me as a customer, in the last 15 years.

-ax

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by axolotl on Wed, 2009-05-27 06:54