Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Rothschild’s “Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy” illustrates an unfortunate reality that is the result of increasing gender equality and globalization, two supposedly positive events. This makes me question why such seemingly progressive processes have resulting in the creation of undesirable situations for thousands upon thousands of women. I am also left wondering whose responsibility it is to make sure these women are treated justly and given voices: the countries who receive them or those who let them go? In many ways, both countries need to employ the right measures in order to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their country of birth, are treated with dignity.

The “Race at Work” document written by Devah Pager and Bruce Western also clearly illustrate the role that race has in the world of employment. We see this to be true in the first article as well, where it is made clear that foreign nannies do not make nearly as much as their native counterparts. In fact, it is fairly common in the United States that white foreign nannies are referred to as Au Pairs, while nannies of color that come from poorer countries are just that. This, of course, affects their salaries as well. Regardless, I was still incredibly surprised to see that white felons were offered more job offers and called back more often than black prospective employees with no criminal records. This was shocking because one of the many justifications that employers give when denying people of color job opportunities is that they anticipate disobedience and disruption in the work place. But how can a black person be inherently more aggressive than a criminal who happens to be white?

Both texts made it clear that we need to do better to provide workers with the opportunities they deserve.