An exploration of the different discriminatory practices women face within the tourism and hospitality industry

Abstract:

Within this paper there will be an extensive look into the different discriminatory practices women face within the tourism and hospitality industry.

Key Words:

Gender Inequality, Aesthetic Labour, Emotional Labour, Sexual Harassment, Discriminatoy Practices

Main Body:

This issue of gender inequality has plagued the hospitality and tourism industry for years, with different expectations regarding appearance, personality as well as a rise in harassment being prominent within the industry.

With the hospitality and tourism industries being made up of a predominantly female workforce, many of these roles are found within entry level jobs. With 60% of the industry being composed of women, only 40% of women hold supervisory positions, less than 20% of women have general management positions, and only between 5-8% have corporate board positions (Baum et al, 2015).

Women face discriminatory practices in a vast amount of ways. With the social precipitation of women needing to look good, have a good attitude whilst still maintaining a healthy social and home life, the labours of working in industries where these expectations alongside practices such as sexual harrassment are largely ignored or over looked has a large toll on the physical and psychological health of women. These practices also hinder women, as it creates an environment which makes it harder for women to attain higher managerial jobs, alongside creating an uncomfortable environment for women, thus contributing to the high staff turnover that is common within the industry.

One of the main expectations which is thrust upon women when in the workplace is the stipulation that they must look ‘good’ and be appealing to the eye. This is regarded as aesthetic labour. Organisations do this through first recruiting potential employees who fit their brand image and then subsequently further moulding employees to create an image of their own ‘perfect’ employee.

Emotional labour is one of the main issues that women face within the tourism and hospitality industry. Emotional labour is expected mainly from women within the industry, seen often through the phrase ‘just smile’. Emotional labour does not just regard a person's emotions and the expectation that women are there to please but it also requires the worker to put on a performance (Allen et. al, 2018). This performance often requires the female worker to be sexually appealing predominatly catering to the male gaze (Allen et. al, 2018). This further creates an environment which legitimises the power which men have within organisations as not only employers but also as customers (Allen et. al, 2018).

Sexual harassment and assult is another huge issue that female workers have to deal with. In 2018 it was found that 89% of female workers within the hospitality industry said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the work place (The Guardian, 2018). Sexual harassment is so prevalent within the tourism and hospitality industries due to a range of different contributors. A lack of managerial skills, the belief of what women should look like, how women should act as well as the behaviour of customers, which is all seen as acceptable within the industry.

It is important when looking at pre-existing literature regarding the topic that all of the suggestions are taken into consideration. As well as this a look into the fact that many of these issues have already been acknowledged but nothing has been done to try and combat them and the effect they have on women within the hospitality and tourism industry.

It is important that not only these issues are combated but that women are also presented with equal opportunities. With a lack of managerial representation of women within the industry it is harder for women to be able to break through into the higher roles. Alongside this the complacency that is shown by the male counterparts within these positions of power regarding the daily issues women are faced with needs to change. With education on these discriminatory practicies provided for men and women, so there is a mutual understand of what is acceptable and what is not, with clear policies and practicies providing boundaries. Alongside this male customers need to also be held accountable for their actions. It is important that women have a voice and feel comfortable turning to those in power to help combat the stigma of male customers, employers and co workers being able to act how they would like, and taking advantage of female employees.

Reference List:

Allen, T., Mavroudis, T. and Skytte, A., 2018. Why We Don't" Just Smile".

Baum, T. and Cheung, C., 2015. Women in tourism & hospitality: Unlocking the potential in the talent pool. Hospitality Industry white paper. Hong Kong: Hospitality Industry Pipeline (HIP).

The Guardian (2018).Sexual harassment rampant in hospitality industry, survey finds Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/24/sexual-harassment-rampant-hospitality-industry-unite-survey-finds#:~:text=Preliminary%20research%20gathered%20from%20workers,harassment%20in%20their%20working%20life. (Accessed: 10 June 2022).

This article comprehensively described the ways in which female workers experience the so-called “glass ceiling”, the demand for aesthetic labour, emotional labour and the subsequent sexual harassment due to the dominating male gaze in the hospitality industry. However, the hospitality industry as deeply rooted in the experience economy is inextricably linked to aesthetics and emotions for the co-creation of memorable experiences, hence, worker’s appearance and welcoming attitude are not necessarily exclusive to female employees, instead, it is the prerequisite of customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty. The society is predominantly based upon the heteronormative modus operandi, that is reason why females are more prone to sexual harassments or as subjects of sexualisation, since the society in general still functions through the lens of hegemonic masculinity. Notably, the differences between how male and female workers approach the industry’s demand for aesthetic and emotional labour could potentially be a direction of future investigation. Furthermore, issues associated with the hospitality industry such as hyper-flexibility, poor working conditions, meagre salary, etc., often prevented employees in this sector from maintaining a satisfactory work-life balance, so that females who were socialised into caring and loving responsibilities of a family are likely to be entrapped by this socially constructed concept of femininity (Dashper, 2020). Such division of labour is the consequence of heteronormativity and hegemonic sexuality, which are essentially imprinted onto people’s mind from the early development of their consciousness. Therefore, the problem of female under-representation in the managerial capacity has wide socio-cultural, political and economic underpinnings, which is also undeniably related to other contextual factors such as ethnicity, age, class, sexuality, etc., this nuanced and multidimensional inequality is more than a problem of the hospitality industry, but rather a societal structural issue (da Silva, et al., 2021). Perhaps by bring the discourses from the perspective of sexuality and intersectionality into this article, this paper could be further embellished with even more criticality and depth.

Reference list:
Dashper, K. (2020). Mentoring for gender equality: Supporting female leaders in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88(2020), 102397. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431919301641?casa_token=4ds9cc61bQQAAAAA:ZATTZ_ZaTNcgAorszCXxr6yXshthaTJjznm0By0Qhpv9389ZCwZuH6qrrw202zoAR3Yp9FByjA [Accessed 14th June 2022].

da Silva, H.B., Yukongdi, V., Kusakabe, K. & Zimmermann, W. (2021). Career Advancement in the Hotel Industry in Timor-Leste: Study of Individual, Organizational, and Gender Differences. SAGE Open Journals, 11(3), 1-20. Available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21582440211032683 [Accessed 14th June 2022].