tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post8096322568549874020..comments2019-05-15T23:59:20.159-07:00Comments on Feminist Legal Theory: Goin' LegitLisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-87191924782407331222012-11-07T14:20:03.881-08:002012-11-07T14:20:03.881-08:00I had entry level jobs that I hated – but I didn’t...I had entry level jobs that I hated – but I didn’t hate them right away. I worked retail jobs as a teenager and through some of college. I enjoyed it at first as a teenager because there were a lot of lessons to learn (time management, money management, responsibility, work ethic, converting my resources into cash, etc..) and there was a lot of money to earn (earning minimum wage was awesome when my previous income was $0). After some time, I learned all that I could learn in terms of work skills and ethics, and I came to the realization that it was not possible to move out of my mother’s house on a minimum wage job. At that point, it was time to move on and any additional hours that I worked became unbearably miserable. The problem is not that everyone hates minimum wage jobs – the problem is that most people who work minimum wage jobs hate minimum wage jobs. Those people should cycle out and make room in entry-level jobs for enthusiastic people who are just entering the workforce. In other words: entry-level jobs should be reserved for entry-level workers. <br /><br />This means, of course, that as people who have more work experience cycle out of entry-level jobs, they will need access to education. This can be, for example, academic education (i.e. university), which is the path I took, or it can be a more technical education (i.e., culinary school), which is the path my brother took. Either way, people need to move from an entry level jobs to a more fulfilling and sustainable means of economic independence. Our societal aim should be to make opportunities for this kind of growth widely available to all Americans – not merely to make the entry-level job more comfortable. <br />Jihan A. Kahssayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14930212007071356669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-15536125466078164812012-10-31T14:08:15.970-07:002012-10-31T14:08:15.970-07:00Firstly - the Wire is genius. Secondly - this quo...Firstly - the Wire is genius. Secondly - this quote was really right on: "The point? Everyone hates working entry level jobs: men, women, and drug dealers." Everyone does hate entry level work, we still need people to do those jobs, some will advance and some won't, and perhaps we should focus on not making them so intollerable and so poorly compensated. I don't think we need to ignore gender to do this - because to me they are really sort of separate issues, although as Patriija suggests they may be causing compound harms on employees. <br /><br />I, too, came to law school for more autonomy in my career, as much as for economic security. But, the truth is that a graduate degree may only rise the entry level, not disturb the power-imbalance or unpleasantness of the space at the bottom. Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08328788742723908281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-25566514860511408722012-10-31T13:06:41.728-07:002012-10-31T13:06:41.728-07:00Not only is it not possible for everyone to educat...Not only is it not possible for everyone to educate out of entry level positions, there is an essential need for people to do that type of work. What our society needs to appreciate is that all work is important. In fact, the work we deem unimportant often creates the platform and basic operations that allow the other "more valued" work to operate and flourish. <br /><br />I totally agree with you that we need to focus on the relationship between the top and the bottom. I found a report done by the Center for WorkLife Law, Improving Work-Life Fit in Hourly Jobs -<br />www.worklifelaw.org/pubs/ImprovingWork-LifeFit.pdf) particularly fascinating, as it showed how integrating flexibility to accommodate for family care responsibility can be successful even for those positions we often view as unable or unprofitable to accommodate such flexibility. In turn, understanding and reacting to your employees drives profits, creates happier employees, and create employee loyalty that reduces turnover and absenteeism.<br /><br />What I don't agree with is your intimation that we should focus on the relationships between the different job positions as opposed to gender. When we fail to address all the issues at play with the ways employment works (or doesn't work) in this country, we fail to address the full picture of what is happening. It is not just Fordism, it is Fordism and gender, Fordism and class, Fodism and race, so on and so forth. Personally, I think it would be foolish to leave out these other relationships. Patricijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07301065108893875589noreply@blogger.com