NET-workers

I was fortunate to attend a screening of Mardi Gras: Made in China at the DC Labor Film Fest last week. The movie documents the path of mardi gras beads from "the factory to the festival." I wanted to mention what I thought was one of the most interesting points made in the film -- many sweatshop owners often try to recruit young female workers because of their supposed docility and ability to handle monotony. One of the owners interviewed in the film was forthright in discussing the benefits of hiring women: he liked hiring women because "they are easier to control." That particular factory around 95 percent female, and a few men were only hired to perform heavy lifting and manual labor that the women couldn't handle. While the high numbers of females employed in factories globally may have positive effects for women's independence, it also may put women in increased danger (for example, the women murdered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico). In any case, this is a complicated issue that I just wanted to bring up briefly here. For more information on this issue, check out Miriam Ching Louie or Leslie Salzinger's work.