Thursday, August 7, 2008
Paulina wants something more for her own
The park is sunny this Tuesday morning. Paulina is dwarfed by the plump baby she carries. She is less than five feet tall while the five-month old boy in her arms is big for his age. Her cell phone rings and she takes it. Her husband, a soldier stationed in Bakersfield, can only make calls at this hour. He moves from state to state while she works two jobs and leaves their 3-year-old daughter in the care of her mother. I ask her what her job is like. “It’s difficult!” The baby is heavy, her back hurts, and she misses her daughter. The baby’s older sister often questions Paulina’s authority when she wants to do something potentially dangerous. Paulina says “no” and the girl says, “Mommy says ‘yes.’” But Paulina has a good response: When you’re with me, I can’t let you do that. Her employer supports this declaring, “We work as a team.” Paulina wants her daughter to go to school and college so she will not have a job like this “with pain.” She showed me a photo of a disabled child she cared for many years until the family moved. They still stay in touch, send holidays cards and pictures. “She couldn’t move anything, or talk, and lived in a wheelchair. I learned a lot from that, about patience, caring.”
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2 comments:
Hello Annthro, I have just finished reading a paper and an article by Jayne Howell: "Women’s Cityward Migration, Domestic Service and Schooling in Southern Mexico" and "Expanding Women's Roles in Southern Mexico: Educated, Employed Oaxaquenas." These made me think of your blog, particularly the paper which investigates the notion of house hold work as a dead end job. In this paper Howell provides an example of a woman who initially began her working life engaged as a domestic servant, but used it to fund her education and move on to work in a better paying job as a secretary. She also describes another case of a woman who spent her life working in the domestic service sector and focused on providing her children with an education that would allow them to them some social mobility. The latter example of women earning their children (or siblings) an education for a better future, is discussed in both of Howell's writings.
I am curious if in your study, you have noticed any trends that dominate the goals and aspirations that motivate the nannies in their work. In your May 6th blog entry you note that one woman's husband discourages her from furthering her education, in the July 3rd entry you mention that a woman has plans to eventually own her own business making pupusas, and in this August 7th entry, you include the remark that the nanny wants her daughter to go to school and college so she will not have to work a job that requires taxing physical labor. Do the women who take up work as nannies generally view the job as a stepping stone to something else? If so to what and for whom? How do women who make a career of it differ in their goals for the future? How do ideas about social mobility compare between nannies with children of their own to those without out children? Do most women working as nannies have children? Do most nannies plan to make (or have they already made) the US their permanent home? In what ways does an illegal status shape their goals for the future?
j a c k i e
Hi Jackie, You ask some interesting questions. Most women tell me being a nanny or housekeeper was the only job they could get without an education and English. Many tell me they do not like cleaning, so being a nanny is the right choice. Many say they love kids, and it's fun. Several tried working in factories here in LA and found the pay the same or less, but much harder labor and no benefits. At least as a nanny they can negotiate a few things with their employer on a one-on-one basis. There is an arc of independence identified by Pierette Hondagnu-Sotelo in Domestica and others in which newer immigrants take live-in positions to get acculturated and get a break on room and board. The goal is to save until they can move out and afford their own apt. Then they can bring their own kids. The majority I spoke with have their own children. The nanny position makes use of their knowledge as mothers while also offering a chance to learn more about child-rearing practices and services in the new community. The older ones in their 60s now mention retirement, while the younger ones aspire to learn more English and become a nurse, a business person, a preschool teacher, these are some of the goals I have heard. Of course legality impacts these imagined futures, for instance the one who was interested in becoming a preschool teacher had college education in Mexico, but she'd been waiting for her papers to be approved for 11 years. The main barriers to upward mobility remain: illegality, lack of education recognized by US employers, and lack of language skills. Thanks for your interest. Annthro
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