| Description |
1 online resource (xi, 235 pages) |
| Contents |
The political and economic relations of the construction industry -- The social relations of production -- "A bitch, a dyke, or a whore-- " : how good men justify white and male dominance -- Bodies at work : the social and physiological production of gender -- "We're animals-- and we're proud of it" : strategic enactments of white, working-class masculinities -- The bodily costs of this social wage : occupational safety in the construction industry -- The wages--and costs--of white working-class masculinities |
| Summary |
Kris Paap worked for nearly three years as a carpenter's apprentice on a variety of jobsites, closely observing her colleagues' habits, expressions, and attitudes. As a woman in an overwhelmingly male-and stereotypically "macho"--Profession, Paap uses her experiences to reveal the ways that gender, class, and race interact in the construction industry. She shows how the stereotypes of construction workers and their overt displays of sexism, racism, physical strength, and homophobia are not "just how they are," but rather culturally and structurally mandated enactments of what it means to be a man-and a worker-in America. The significance of these worker performances is particularly clear in relation to occupational safety: when the pressures for demonstrating physical masculinity are combined with a lack of protection from firing, workers are forced to ignore safety procedures in order to prove-whether male or female-that they are "man enough" to do the job. Thus these mandated performances have real, and sometimes deadly, consequences for individuals, the entire working class, and the strength of the union movement. Paap concludes that machismo separates the white male construction workers from their natural political allies, increases their risks on the job, plays to management's interests, lowers their overall social status, and undercuts the effectiveness of their union |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-226) and index |
| Notes |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
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digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Construction workers -- United States -- Attitudes
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Working class men -- United States -- Attitudes
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Men, White -- United States -- Attitudes
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Masculinity -- United States
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Construction industry -- United States -- Safety measures
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Sociology -- General.
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Construction industry -- Safety measures
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Construction workers -- Attitudes
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Masculinity
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United States
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2005037543 |
| ISBN |
9781501729294 |
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1501729292 |
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