Maid in L.A.

Unfortunately the situation many undocumented and immigrant women find themselves in positions of live-in nannies or house keepers are not unfamiliar to me. I am and have been aware of the deplorable work conditions, extreme isolation, violence or abuse, inadequate compensation and extended work hours through personal and academic readings such as Barbara Ehrenreich book Nickel & Dimed. In addition, you see these types of situations occurring in film (for those who truly deconstruct the messages in films and movies) such as Precious (the young Jamaican girl who cleaned for a woman's house and was being laughed at by her peers because the woman rings a bell to summon her and gets paid little to no money for long, hard hours worked) and the Nanny Diaries (even though Scarlett has options available to her, you can see the hierarchy and demands made from the heads of house holds onto their live-in nannies). I must admit until I read Piennette Hondagneu-Sotelo's article, Maid in L.A. I held the belief many Americans do of immigrant domestic workers as those who are less fortunate, uneducated and from rural areas or as Maribel Centeno states, "the same as any other girl from the countryside (31)." I think this attitude stems from the belief if someone is educated, smart and culturized they would not accept or seek employment in such labor intensive and unrealistic in demand types of jobs. But after reading the article and analyzing its content, the legal status of these women leave them vulnerable to having to accept these types of jobs because they have no other recourse available.

I also view domestic work as equivalent to slavery. Employers and agencies are very well aware of the naivete of these women who are seeking employment in these fields. They are intentionally underpaying these women, isolating them from contact with anyone outside the home to limit access to knowledge and information on their living conditions and/or holding their illegal status as leverage to further take advantage of the situation. Case in point of Maribel Centeno who was hired (in the article) to be paid $80 a week to clean a twenty-three room house, Margarita Gutierrez who slept in the corner of the three-year-old child in her care and Gladys Villed who recalled at one of her live-in jobs, the senora had graciously told her to help herself to food to eat yet there was nothing in the refrigerators (33)"

I do find the racial preferences and prejudices from both the employer and domestic workers quite odd and stereotyped. Naturally all stereotypes formulate from some sort of truth but cannot be applied across the board. I find the assumption/stereotype of employers stating, "They viewed Latina domestic workers was responsible, trustworthy, and reliable employees who have a "really strong work ethic"(57)." Or those of workers as, "Anyone marked as "nonwhite," it seems, is at risk of being denounced as a cheap, abusive, and oppressive employer, one to be avoided at all costs (58)."

I see systematic red tape and double standards as means to perpetuate and take advantage of immigrant women doing these types of jobs. I don't know what can be done to stop this as heads of households are looking for cheap labor and illegal immigrants allow as such. I really feel for these young women, it is such an sad and troubling practice still common today.


http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/immigr08.htm