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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 7435
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2008 - 10:16 am: | 
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Sociologists explore 'emotional labor' of black professionals in the workplace
BOSTON — Black professionals make extra efforts in the workplace to fulfill what they believe are the expectations of their white colleagues, according to research to be presented today at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).
Sociologists Marlese Durr of Wright State University and her co-author Adia Harvey Wingfield of Georgia State University argue that black professionals engage in two types of "emotional performance" in the workplace: General etiquette and racialized emotion maintenance.
"Our analysis of these aspects of workplace behavior reveals that women and men co-mingle etiquette and emotion maintenance to be accepted in the workplace and to fit white expectations," said Durr. "This emotional overtime in the workplace strengthens race/ethnic group solidarity."
Whether it's stressful, inauthentic or downright draining, Durr claims that emotional labor is "a crucial part of black women's self-presentation in work and social public spaces." These efforts to fit in can, in effect, make African American women feel isolated, alienated, and frustrated.
Durr and Wingfield illustrate emotional labor as performance with a quote from an African American woman who says of her workplace peers, "They…are careful to remember…'that's not professional. Remember they got the s[hit] that'll get you bit! Keep your Negro in check! Don't let it jump up and show anger, disapproval, or difference of opinion. They have to like you and think that you are as close to them as possible in thought, ideas, dress and behavior.'"
Marlese Durr, PhD, is an associate professor of sociology at Wright State University, in Dayton, Ohio, where she has taught for 14 years. Durr's research focuses on the area of organizations, work and occupations, and race and gender. She received her PhD in 1993 from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and is the author of The New Politics of Race: From Du Bois to the 21st Century (Praeger Press, 2002) and Work and Family, African Americans in the Lives of African Americans with Shirley A. Hill (Rowman & Litttlefield, 2006).
Adia Harvey Wingfield is assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where she has taught for two years. Her research focuses on the ways race, gender and class intersect to affect various groups in different occupations and workplaces. She received her PhD in 2004 from The Johns Hopkins University, and is the author of Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons, and the Racial Enclave Economy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), a study of working-class black women entrepreneurs.
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The paper, "Keep Your 'N' In Check: African American Women and the Interactive Effects of Etiquette and Emotional Labor," will be presented on Sunday, Aug. 3, at 2:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Boston at the American Sociological Association's 103rd annual meeting.
To obtain a copy of the paper by Durr and Wingfield; for more information on other ASA presentations; or for assistance reaching the study authors, contact Jackie Cooper at jcooper@asanet.org or (202) 247-9871. During the annual meeting (July 31 to Aug. 4), ASA's Public Information Office staff can be reached in the press room, located in the Sheraton Boston's Exeter AB room, at (617) 351-6853, (617) 351-6854 or (301) 509-0906 (cell).
About the American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/asa-se072908.php |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 7436
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2008 - 11:01 am: |
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(Also...
*Shifting - The Double Lives of Black Women in America
by Charisse Jones and Kumea Shorter-Gooden*
...is an excellent book on this subject)
From the Publisher: Based on the African American Women's Voices Project, Shifting reveals that a large number of African American women feel pressure to compromise their true selves as they navigate America's racial and gender bigotry.
Black women "shift" by altering the expectations they have for themselves or their outer appearance. They modify their speech. They shift "White" as they head to work in the morning and "Black" as they come back home each night. They shift inward, internalizing the searing pain of the negative stereotypes that they encounter daily. And sometimes they shift by fighting back.
With deeply moving interviews, poignantly revealed on each page, Shifting is a much-needed, clear, and comprehensive portrait of the reality of African American women's lives today.
About the Authors
Charisse Jones is a national correspondent for USA Today. A former staff writer for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, she has been a commentator for National Public Radio and is a contributing writer for Essence magazine.
Kumea Shorter-Gooden, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in private practice and a professor at the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University, Los Angeles.
http://store.diversityinc.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=HARP0060090553 |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 12638
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2008 - 02:46 pm: |
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Everybody is stressed out in the work place. Yes, there is a necessity to being able to effectively articulate your views and to maintain your poise but these are not aspirations peculiar to black folks. White women are insecure, too. In fact they tend to look upon sistas as being cool and in-charge, which is why they gravitate toward "mammy" figures like Oprah.
And unless you want to be a white "n i g g er", the necessity to fit-in in the work place is an option that can be passed on. Why pressure yourself to be anything other than polite acquaintances with women with whom you have little in common.
Obviously I need to read these studies to change the impressions that I've gained from my own personal observations. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 7267
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 - 12:27 pm: |
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Everybody is stressed out in the work place
(Not necessarily and not all the time. Of course YOU worked in the Post Office, from which comes the term Going Postal. Nuff said)
White women are insecure, too
(This is purely anecdotal)
And unless you want to be a white "n i g g er", the necessity to fit-in in the work place is an option that can be passed on
(I respectfully disagree. If you don't fit in you are a goner. Sometimes fitting in is a function of finding the right place to work--
Unfortunately for many--indeed most---who are trying to survive they may have no choice but to tough it out--alchohol and drugs are frequent recourses) |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 12648
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 - 01:35 pm: |
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I think it's a given that the place where people spend 8 hours of their day is the source of most of their stress. even if they like what they're doing.
Black woman's experiences in the work place are also "anecdotal". The book in question is made up of their personal accounts.
And you can fit in a work environment by not rocking the boat, - something which requires no effort. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 3116
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 - 08:54 am: |
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Dr. Wingfield's book on hair salons sounds very interesting! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 12655
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 - 11:56 am: |
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Yes, this book does sound interesting. Black beauty shops are a snapshot in the album of "sista" wisdom. Gurl!  |
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