The key points that this article talks about is the divergent roles that women play in a manufacturing environment. The author notes that although in most of the third world countries the role of women are limited to the household and for rearing children, she argues that the manufacturing workplace succeeds in changing that stereotype. However, such a view is still limited since the factory workplace clearly defines key masculine and feminine roles that eliminate or trivialize those workers from the system who do not conform to the rules of either segment. This essay will attempt to connect the article to the broader concepts of capitalism, and reinforcing the idea of gender roles. In addition, the essay would raise a provocative question at the very end that would be left open without further discussion.
The article mentions about the masculinity of workers who prefer to stand long hours on the assembly line and their eventual promotion to a supervisory role. In this connection, the article mentions “any male worker who failed to enter the masculine trajectory of skill was regarded as unsuitable for employment.” (Wright 61) Further, the article also mentions the mindless routines as well as the notion that “men do the thinking, women do the assembling.” (62) Both these lines aptly point to the highly capitalist mindset that fails to take into account the humanitarian view of these workers; it reduces them to entities that are fit for one or the other role based on gender. Further, the practice of the supervisory staff wearing ties and the workers wearing uniforms tends to introduce a hierarchal approach to the workplace, which is, in fact, a hallmark of capitalism since it tends to divide people along the lines of both skills. Also, the high stress levels that both these workers and the supervisors are subject to during the course of a normal day tend to reinforce the strong connections to the broader concepts of Capitalism.
The second important concept this article highlights is the stereotypical gender roles. The idea that men stand and think more than women have led the management to ensure that both women and men are stereotyped into specific roles. Those men who do not conform are left out, but the same does not apply to women. Those women who do masculine jobs such as thinking and standing on the line for long hours are assigned long hours. Men are encouraged to learn new things, while women are relegated to the assembly line. (60) One can see the manner in which the traditional gender roles are, in a way, reinforced even in the modern day workplaces. The article shows a very strong linkage between the two areas.
In the article, I was a little surprised to see that the study conducted by Wright brings out the regressive side of the modern corporate world in Mexico. On the one hand, Mexico has its fair share of capitalism but is heavily tinged with a gender bias that prevents women from advancing to any role beyond assembling units. One could say that it is a little disappointing to see that these modern day workplaces that are so disciplined on the outside are extremely regressive on the inside.
One comes up with a highly provocative question: “Would the efficiency of this factory go up if the roles were mixed or reversed?” This is an interesting question since such a move would be highly provocative in Mexico. At the same time, it would leave the door open for experimentation. The best option would be to mix roles so that the thinking teams consist of both men and women. Similarly, the same could be applied to the assembly team. Since the management prefers men to learn new skills, it would be a good thing since the men would get to learn the assembly aspect, while the women would get to know the thinking and the design aspect of these units.
In conclusion, one can understand that in certain countries such as Mexico, gender roles play a very strong role. In such cases, these stereotypes also affect the manner in which capitalism works as illustrated by Wright. While roles could be mixed, one knows that such an experiment would not be possible.
Works Cited
Wright, Melissa. Disposable Women and other Myths of Global Capitalism. New York, NY: Routledge, 2013. Print
