cauth cinderella.docx
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cauth cinderella.docx
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cauthcinderella
CINDERELLAINBABYLON:
THEREPRESENTATIONOFHOUSEKEEPINGANDHOUSEKEEPERSINHOTELBABYLON
CINDERELLAINBABYLON:
THEREPRESENTATIONOFHOUSEKEEPINGANDHOUSEKEEPERSINHOTELBABYLON
DrCandiceHarris
SeniorLecturerinManagement,
FacultyofBusiness,AUTUniversity
PrivateBag92006
Auckland1142
NEWZEALAND
candice.harris@aut.ac.nz
DrHelenTregidga
SeniorLecturerinAccounting
FacultyofBusiness,AUTUniversity
helen.tregidga@aut.ac.nz
DeniseSchitko
SeniorLecturerinHospitality
FacultyofAppliedHumanities,AUTUniversity
DavidWilliamson
SeniorLecturerinHospitality
FacultyofAppliedHumanities,AUTUniversity
david.williamson@aut.ac.nz
PapersubmittedtotheCAUTHE18thInternationalResearchConference10-13February2009,Perth,Australia–Stream:
Tourism&HospitalityandChangingPerspectives
WordCount:
5450
Keywords:
Housekeeping,HotelBabylon,Ethnicity,Sexualisation,Denigration
CinderellainBabylon:
TheRepresentationofHousekeepingandHousekeepersinHotelBabylon
Thispaperlooksattherepresentationsofhousekeepingandhousekeepersinthepopulartelevisionseries‘HotelBabylon.Thepaperdiscussessomepossibleeffectsoftheimpressionconstructedofthisareaofhotelemploymentandsuggeststhattheimageofahospitalitycareerinhousekeepingisunderminedandundervaluedbythisconstruction.Thepapertakesareflectiveapproachandlooksathowlanguageandimageinthe‘HotelBabylon’seriesareconstructedregardingthehousekeepingdepartmentandworkers.Thepaperpositsthatimageofhousekeepingworkandthoseemployeesisoneofmainlymigrantworkers,sexualizedvictimsanddenigratedemployees.Thepapergoestosuggestthathousekeepingisinfactoftenthelargestandmostimportantdepartmentinhotelsasthemajorityoftheirincomeisderivedfromthesaleofrooms.Thepaperarguesthatitisironicthattheemployeesresponsibleforthelargestrevenuegeneratingareaofthehotelaresostronglydenigrated,wheninfacttheyshouldberecognizedaskeyemployees.Intermsofhotelandhospitalitygenerally,thisstudysuggestsmorefundamentalconcernsaboutsustainingservicequalityandemploymentrelationshipsinatightlabourmarket.
Introduction
HotelsoccupyafascinatingplaceinthesocialimaginationoftheWest.Inmanywayshotelsaresynonymouswithsex,romanceandadventure—linkedinpopularculturewithclandestinemeetingsofspiesandlovers,withweddingnights,honeymoonsandillicitortransitorysexualassignations(PritchardandMorgan,2006).
Badbehaviour,youwouldthink,isparforthecourseintheluxuryhotelbusiness:
ademandingguesthere,adrunkenguestthere,anillicitcouple,somebrokenglasses.Butwhatthehotelstaffreallyhastoputupwithfromguestswhoareshellingoutbetween£350and£3,500anightwouldshockeventhemostjadedofsouls.Anditisusuallythechambermaidswhoareatthesharpend(BBC,2006,p.1).
Recentcontributionsontheinteractionbetweenworkandtourism(Harris,2002;Ryan,2002;Uriely&Reichel,2000)challengetraditionalnotionsoftourismandtravelasout-of-the-ordinaryindulgentexperiences(Small,HarrisandWilson,2008).Formany,internationallyhotelsareaworkplace.Highemployeeturnoverwithinthehospitalityindustryhasbeenacceptedasthenorm,creatinga‘turnoverculture’(Deery,2002)inwhichorganizationalstructures,managementandemployeesshowacceptanceofturnoverbehaviour.Figuresdiscussedatthe2006NewZealandHotelCouncilConference,puthotelemployeeturnoverashighas60%.Thishighturnovercanbeattributedtothelowwagespaidandalsoduetotheindustrybeingcharacterisedbyhistoricalpractices,basedonstereotypesandmythssuchas‘youworkinhospitalityuntilyougetarealjob’,typifyingaweakpsychologicalcontractbetweenworkersandhospitalityworkplaces.
ThispaperexaminesrepresentationsofbothhousekeepingandhousekeepersinthepopulartelevisionseriesHotelBabylon.Thepaperalsonotessomepotentialeffectsofthisknowledgeproducedabouthousekeepingandhousekeepersinrelationtojobappeal(andhencerecruitment)andemployeeturnover.HotelBabylonisacontemporaryandwidelyshownprogrammeshowingthelifeandinnerworkingsofahotelandthepeoplewhoworkinit.Wepositthatthisprogrammeisrepresentinghotelhousekeepingworkandhousekeepersasahotbedofmigrantworkers,sexualactivityanddenigration-servingtoconstructtheimageofahospitalitycareerinhousekeepingasundesirabletomany.Thisimage,wesuggest,mayunderminestaffretentioneffortsin‘real’hospitalityworkplaces.Webeginwithareviewoftheliteratureonhotelhousekeeping.Theapproachtakeninthispaperisthenoverviewed.Findingsarethenpresentedanddiscussedfocusingonthreethemesthatemergedfromouranalysis.Wenotethepotentialeffectsofrepresentationssuchastheseonthehousekeepingsectorofthehotelindustry.Weendthepaperwithsomeconcludingcomments.
HotelHousekeeping
Asthemajorityofhotelsare‘accommodationled’withmostrevenuederivedfromthesaleofrooms(MedlikandIngram,2000),housekeepingisarguablythemostimportantdepartmentinhotels.Giventheimportanceofhousekeepingitwouldbereasonabletoexpecttheseworkerstoberecognisedasakeypartoftheoperation.However,housekeepingworkisoftenstigmatizedbecauseofitsassociationwithpersonalservitude(Purcell,1993;AshforthandKreiner,1999).HousekeepersundertaketasksthatHughes(1971)terms‘dirtywork’,thussymbolisingalackofdignityandstatusandpotentialdegradationoftheworker.
Scherzer,RuguliesandKrause(2005)suggesthousekeepingis‘characterizedbyapredominantlyfemaleworkforce,repetitivephysicaltasks,lowjobcontrol,lowwages,increasinguseofcontingencyemployment,andfewopportunitiesforcareeradvancement’(p.1).Wood(1994)states“itisconventionaltoregardcleaningworkas‘unskilled’despitethefactthatanargumentcouldbemadeforregardingsuchworkasrequiringacomplexbalanceoftaskorganisation,theapplicationof(thoughlow-level)technologyandtechnologicalprocessesandtheknowledgeoftheseprocesses”(p.62).
Housekeepingisgenderedwork.Thelargestproportionoffemaleworkersarefoundinthe‘dirtiest’andoperativehoteljobsrequiringdomesticskillsforwhichwomenareinherentlyskilled(AdibandGuerrier,2003;Kinnairdetal,1994).“Cleaningworkinthehomeisnotusuallyvaluedbymen,beingtakenforgrantedorviewedasawife’sduty,aviewthathasarguablybeentransferredtothepublicperformanceofcleaninginpaidemployment”(Wood,1994,p.62).Wood(citedinHunter-Powell&Watson)concludes“chambermaidsrankamongstthelowestofthelowinhotelwork,treatedasacheapandeasilyreplaceableresourcebyemployersandoftenspurnedbytheirfellowemployees”(p.299).Traditionallywomenareemployedinrolesthatareconsideredtorepresenttheirdomesticrolesusingthesameskillsbase(Kinnaird,KothariandHall,1994).
Ashousekeepersusuallyworkindependentlyandautonomouslytheymaybevulnerabletoharassmentfromguestsorotherworkers.Althoughitisusualforroomcleaningtotakeplacewhentheguestisnotintheroom,occasionallytheguestsmayreturnbeforetheroomhasbeencompletedmeaningthestaffmemberisalonewiththeguestintheroom.Furthermore,HunterPowell&Watson(2006)suggest“thebehaviourofsomeguestsmaybeaffectedbytheirfreedomfromtheconstraintsofhomewhilestayinginahotel”(p.303).
Housekeepersperformveryphysicaltasks.Itisgenerallyacceptedthataroomattendantwillcleanaroomin30minutes.Withmanyhotelshavingtwodoubleorkingsizebedsperroom,30bedsmayrequiremakinginaneighthourshift.Thisrepetitousbendingandliftingcancauseoccupationalinjuryiftherehasbeennoinstructionregardingbestpractice.FaulknerandPatiar(ascitedinHunter,Powell&Watson,2006)suggestthatotherroutineactivitiessuchaspushingladencleaningtrolleysandmovingfurniturecanalsoresultinspinalandjointinjuries.Scherzer,RuguliesandKrause(2005,p.489)show“roomcleanersmaybeatanelevatedriskforoccupationalinjuriescomparedwithhospitalityworkersatlargeandtheservicesectoringeneral”.Theirfindingsputtheinjuryrateforroomattendantsatfourtimeshigherthanthenationalincidencerate.
Furthermore,housekeepingisoftenconsideredanentrylevelpositionwhichattractsimmigrantworkers-oftenwithEnglishasasecondlanguage.AmandaCooper(spokespersonforalabourunionistheUSA)notesthatthehotelindustry,particularlyinhousekeeping,isdominatedbyimmigrantsandHunter,PowellandWatson(2006,p.300)observethathousekeepingoperationsinLondonandothermajorUKcities“areoftendominatedbymigrantandethnicminoritygroups”.TheaboveresearchreflectsfindingsfromLucas(1995)whoinfersethnicminorityandmigrantworkersareclusteredinthelowestgradedworkinthehospitalityindustryandthatitiscommontofindthattheworkersinhotelsaredrawnfromthesameethnicminorityormigrantgroups,particularlyinthe‘ghettoofhousekeeping’.
ApproachandMethod
Thisanalysisaimstoexamineknowledgeconstructedwithinatelevisionseries,namelyHotelBabylon,andconsiderthepotentialeffectofthatknowledge.Todosoweconsiderrepresentationsofhousekeepingandhousekeepersinfiveepisodesofthetelevisionseries.Here,inthissectionofthepaper,weoutlinetheresearchsiteandcontext,andtheanalyticalmethod
ResearchContext
ThetelevisionseriesHotelBabylonwasselectedasthesiteforanalysisforthisstud
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