I have chosen to comment on this paper due to the similarities with my conference paper on the topic of occupational gender segregation in the hotel industry. Although my paper focused on females employed in the hotel sector, I like how this paper focuses in on a certain geographic location rather than just females in general. As different genders, dominate different roles amongst different cultures (Burrell Et al, 1997).
I feel that the author could have provided a broader understanding of how this gender inequality has come to be. Although the increase of tourism activity has been discussed as the main factor I think there could be a few other contributing factors which have led to this divide amongst genders. For instance, Duffy Et al (2015) explains how gender roles were found to exist years ago amongst the catholic society where men were the ‘breadwinners’ and women were there to take care of ‘domestic duties’.
The author has provided clear evidence of the factors which Latin American women are facing in the workplace such as the pay gap, gender discrimination and lower positioned jobs (Baum, 2013). The reasons why these have appeared have also been clearly demonstrated, and these reflect those found in my paper as being related to women being placed in jobs which provide caring responsibilities, leaving men in the positons of power.
It is interesting to see that tourists themselves maybe somewhat creating the demand for these gender specific roles in some destinations. So although the demand for tourism to some destinations is high, this brings with it disadvantages for female workers whom are being relied upon to fill these stereotypical job roles that are needed, such as housekeeping jobs. It is great to see that the author has provided some insight into the tools of empowerment which are being put in place in Latin America, which are working to try and combat this gender inequality.
In conclusion this piece of work displays some good clear research and is written well, clearly presenting the main focus of the paper throughout. The author discussed the barriers which are faced by Latin American women in tourism workplaces along with the empowerment schemes that have been put in place to combat this. This paper could have perhaps provided some personal recommendations for the tourism industry in the future to try and stop this gender inequality. However, the author has picked up on the main key points and overall has provided a deeper understanding as to how gender discrimination is presented in Latin America amongst female tourism workers.
References
Baum, T. (2013) International Perspectives on Women and Work in Hotels, Catering and Tourism. [Online] Geneva: International Labour Office. Available from:
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@gender/documents/publication/wcms_209867.pdf [Accessed 30th April 2017].
Burrell, J., Manfredi, S., Rollin, H., Prize, L., Stead, L., 1997. Equal opportunities for women employees in the hospitality industry: A comparison between France, Italy, Spain and the UK. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 16(2), 161-179.
Duffy, L., Kline, C., Mowatt, R., Chancellor, C. (2015) Women in Tourism: Shifting gender ideology in the DR. Annals of Tourism Research, 52:72-86