Pills, ills and the ugly face of aesthetic labour: ‘They should’ve discriminated against me’

Abstract

This article presents a vivid account of one woman's experience of taking on a second job -the role of a slimming club consultant -when her husband is made unemployed. Her story highlights how aesthetic labour, particularly when a worker's appearance becomes more prominent over time, can lead to dangerous behaviours, namely the use of weight-loss pills and illegal drugs. These behaviours resulted in sleeplessness, frequent headaches and a feeling of disgust. Furthermore, this troubling account raises an important and uncomfortable question: can discrimination in the workplace sometimes be 'for the best'?

The Health and Well-Being at Work Agenda: Good News for (Disabled) Workers or Just a Capital Idea?

“…The problem faced by many union representatives is, however, that symbolically, such programmes are viewed as inherently positive and therefore difficult to oppose. Conjuring up images of concerned employers and HR departments helping to create healthy and happy workers, not enough is known about the extent to which employees feel judged or pressurized to change lifestyle choices (Butler and Harris, 2015), or the effects of H&WB initiatives on disabled employees. Some unions have attempted to wrestle back employer-led H&WB initiatives by producing workplace wellbeing toolkits to highlight healthy working practices: flexible working, work-life balance, participation and consultation.…”

“…This approach is potentially problematic if care is not taken to avoid assumptions about impairments. There is further danger that an emphasis on health and fitness might inappropriately make assumptions about the link between lifestyles and workplace performance (Butler and Harris, 2015;Corbett, 2013). Unreliable and indeterminate measures of H&WB 'lack attention to social/cultural contexts in which disadvantaged individuals and groups live' (Lewis et al, 2011: 6), with the consequence that people's lived experiences and situational factors are denied or suppressed.…”

“…A common legislative 'solution' has been workplace adjustments or accommodations, but these more often than not leave underlying ableist organizing principles untouched, adapting work from an able-bodied ideal, so that variations to a job are viewed as inferior, or concessions to an 'ideal' norm. Normalcy in organizations stigmatizes those with existing and future impairments and 'rewards those who most closely conform to socially prescribed ideal models of appearance and behaviour' (Tregaskis, 2004: 66), which can also affect people disadvantaged by norms associated with 'lookism' (Butler and Harris, 2015). If the ideal worker in contemporary capitalism is to now be defined according to their aesthetic value, how resilient they are and as self-managing able-bodied entrepreneurial subjects, the logical outcome is that many more people will fall short of this, with the consequence that they will potentially be socially constructed as dis-abled.…”

Overemployed migrant workers: Evidence from the Annual Population Survey for a ‘special model of gendered confidence’

“…Likewise, being discontent with jobs, having higher pay and holding better qualifications are among the predictors of overemployment (MacInnes, 2005). We, on the other hand, lack systematic evidence regarding the role of some potentially critical issues such as holding a second job (Butler & Harris, 2015) or pay settlements as the evidence from Finland points to the importance of difference between hourly and weekly earnings (Lundberg & Karlsson, 2011).…”

The ‘Smile’ that Delivers the Brand: Organisational Dehumanisation Among Frontline Staff in the Hotel Sector – Evidence from Sri Lanka

“…Additionally, employees were often strained when they were expected to maintain an outer appearance that they were uncomfortable with, for instance, though Sri Lankan frontline male hotel workers were often expected to wear the traditional 'sarong' to portray the culture, some did not prefer this because the Sri Lankan society often perceived that a traditional 'sarong' portrayed a lower status in the society compared to a suit (Wijesinghe, 2007). Further, aesthetic dehumanisation often led employees to engage in practices that were physically and psychologically damaging to maintain the organisationally desired outlook, for example, addictions to slimming pills (Butler & Harris, 2015).…”