Making Up the Difference

Women, Beauty, and Direct Selling in Ecuador

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book Making Up the Difference by Erynn Casanova, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Erynn Casanova ISBN: 9780292744707
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: June 1, 2011
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Erynn Casanova
ISBN: 9780292744707
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: June 1, 2011
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English

Globalization and economic restructuring have decimated formal jobs in developing countries, pushing many women into informal employment such as direct selling of cosmetics, perfume, and other personal care products as a way to "make up the difference" between household income and expenses. In Ecuador, with its persistent economic crisis and few opportunities for financially and personally rewarding work, women increasingly choose direct selling as a way to earn income by activating their social networks. While few women earn the cars and trips that are iconic prizes in the direct selling organization, many use direct selling as part of a set of household survival strategies.

In this first in-depth study of a cosmetics direct selling organization in Latin America, Erynn Masi de Casanova explores women's identities as workers, including their juggling of paid work and domestic responsibilities, their ideas about professional appearance, and their strategies for collecting money from customers. Focusing on women who work for the country's leading direct selling organization, she offers fascinating portraits of the everyday lives of women selling personal care products in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil. Addressing gender relations (including a look at men's direct and indirect involvement), the importance of image, and the social and economic context of direct selling, Casanova challenges assumptions that this kind of flexible employment resolves women's work/home conflicts and offers an important new perspective on women's work in developing countries.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Globalization and economic restructuring have decimated formal jobs in developing countries, pushing many women into informal employment such as direct selling of cosmetics, perfume, and other personal care products as a way to "make up the difference" between household income and expenses. In Ecuador, with its persistent economic crisis and few opportunities for financially and personally rewarding work, women increasingly choose direct selling as a way to earn income by activating their social networks. While few women earn the cars and trips that are iconic prizes in the direct selling organization, many use direct selling as part of a set of household survival strategies.

In this first in-depth study of a cosmetics direct selling organization in Latin America, Erynn Masi de Casanova explores women's identities as workers, including their juggling of paid work and domestic responsibilities, their ideas about professional appearance, and their strategies for collecting money from customers. Focusing on women who work for the country's leading direct selling organization, she offers fascinating portraits of the everyday lives of women selling personal care products in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil. Addressing gender relations (including a look at men's direct and indirect involvement), the importance of image, and the social and economic context of direct selling, Casanova challenges assumptions that this kind of flexible employment resolves women's work/home conflicts and offers an important new perspective on women's work in developing countries.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Lebanon in Strife by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book A Thousand Deer by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Mexican Americans and the Question of Race by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book a dirty hand by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Landscapes Of Bacchus by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Outsider in the Promised Land by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Mexican Financial Development by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Song of the Heart by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Texas Graveyards by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book An Anatomy of The Turn of the Screw by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Murder Was Not a Crime by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Savage Frontier Volume 3 1840-1841: Rangers, Riflemen, and Indian Wars in Texas by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Landowners in Colonial Peru by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book The Forgotten Ones by Erynn Casanova
Cover of the book Paleoindian Geoarchaeology of the Southern High Plains by Erynn Casanova
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy