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/*/Yt AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON GE}IDER TN TITE !,IORKPLACE: A CASE STUDY OF WOMEN WORKING IN HOTEL BARS SANDRA JANE UNDERWOOD GRIMES B.A.' (Hons. ) , M.a. (Hons. ) Subrnitted for the degree of Ph.D. with the Department of Anthropology The University of Adelaide Date of submíssion: February 1980 jt i\,^'cr,r il /ì , /':', Ì THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE AUSTRAITIA 5001 G.P.O. Box 498, ADELAIDE' SOUTH Telegraphic Add¡ess: UNMD Telophorre: 223 4333(Area õode 08) t{È1 lLt'{'a'1 | ' gá,^, ñ /r'.-!n'^ãef cJ 8o- p a-J,.,l-¿ ß¿'. It w "{T ,[ tþ fi- \t*^e- haq,l,2'\ þ' 9¿,.,>, "** Itn-.-.- tt"¿tc *.,S ç-þt - 3Þ't +t*i ø , l\c e,<.|ir¿ d.eâ¿.ûPtlå^ '+ [I".. tDor"tq^ fvr: *tot¿t .IC. dtQ- , lla¿., o- C-s',r.¿t-. hi',/t þrþt4z"t Ê *\ t&-¿-,L Lo 5 a"^^ IJ'LU'+1 ç^ oy-à tÉ ra^,a.¿L¿ avàtt&t¡l¿ tr tO.q-,.- Cof 3 ,*1 o LIST OF CONTENTS Summary l_11 Declaration v Acknowledgements vl- Chapter One Statement of Theme, Methodology and Theory I Chapter Two Institutional Features of Hotels and the Research Locations 37 Chapter Three Hotels as Pub1ic Domains 85 Chapter Four The Structure'of Bar Ï{ork 115 Chapter Five llomen at l¡fork in Australia: an Overview of the Literature and an Historical Sketch of Women at I^fork in Hotel Bars t46 Chapter Six An Etturographic Account of lrlomen at Vüork in Hotel Bars r75 Chapter Seven An Ethnographic Account of Men at lfork in Hotel Bars and an Ànalysis of Gender Contrasts in Bar l¡Iork 243 Ctrapter Eight Conclusion 287 Part I: The Significance of the Sexual Code in Bar Work Part II: Gender fdeology and Bar !üork Appendices 302 Bibliography 3r8 TIIESTS SUMMARY AND SYNOPSIS This work is an anthropological study of women engaged in serving drinks in hotel bars. The perspective I adopÈ highlights the theme of gend.er, contrasting the interactional and cognitive patterns of the work experiences of women and men bar workers. I relate these patterns to cultural constructs or ideologies of gender operative in Australian society. As a case study of womenrs participation in the public domain, my conclusions suggest ways in which \^¡omen's presence in the paid work force is perceived within an overarching rubric of cul-tural constructs of gender which present the home as the proper place for women. As an explanatory framework for my discussion, I d.raw on the argument of Ortner (1974) about the cultural definition of women and men in terms of the concepts of Inaturet and 'culturer. In Chapter One, by way of introduction, I explore the substantive, methodological and theoretical issues raised by this study. fn Chapter T\¡ro, I examine the institutional featr:res of hotels and the ethnographic location of the research. Here I draw out the significance of women in mediating the contradictions of bar work. In Chapter Three, I explore cultural constructs of hotels as male domains and their use by women and men patrons. The ínconsistencies which become apparent when patterns of patronage are lined up against cultural constructs of hotels are situa- tionally and selectively perceived in ways which are supportive of cultural classifications of gender. In Chapter Fou-r, I explore the institutional features specific to bar work and identify general core characterisLics and constraints of iii the work which apply to those who work in it. This discussion identifies contradictions attachi-ng to the work which are not gender-differentiated. In Chapter Five, by way of preface to an exploration of the ethnography relating to women workers in Chapter Six, I review some recent analyses of women at work in the Australian context. This l-iterature raises a number of issues relevant to the data set out in the following chapter. The descriptive data on women and men at work in hotel bars is contained in Chapters Six and Seven respectively. The importance of these chapters, especially Chapter Six, should not be misread by their descripÈion as ethnography. The discussions of women and men in bar work are interlinked and lay the ground.work for a number of gender contrasts which I outline in the second half of Chapter Seven. Following this, in my concJ-usion, f explore and interpret definitions of women bar workers which draw on their sexuality. I refer to these definitions as the 'sexual codel which I argue is central Èo the interactions of women workers and customers in a nu¡nber of \^rays. I round off by arguing that for both women and men, the contra- dictions entailed in bar work stem from wider cultural constructs of gender. These are mediated by a nurnber of neutralising or distancing mechanisms wt¡-ich mask these contradictions. !'lith reference to women bar workers, ideological rwork' is performed by the sexual code, which in paradoxical- ways renders their participation in the public world consistent with an ideol-ogy which stresses the proper and primary rol-e of women as mothers in domestic contexts. l_v DECLARATION This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university and, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text. S. Grimes v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My major debt is to the Department of Anthropology, University of Adelaide, for having made this study possible, to both acad.ernic and clerical staff, particularly to my supervisors, Roy Fitzhenry and Kingsley Garbett, and to students and visitors, including Leah Handelman, Caroline Ifeka and Peggy Mares. I am grateful also for discussions with Professor Bruce Kapferer, and for critical assistance from Susan Barham in the latter stages of the project. Outside the Department, I owe a special debt to Anna Yeatman of Flinders University, and to Leslie Haviland and Roger Keesing of the Australian National University, for support received toward the end of the process. I received indefinable assistance and support from my family, from my mother and brother, and from a number of friends both inside and outside the I{omenrs Movement, too numerable to mention here. However, special thanks is owed to Ginny HaIl, Jill Matthews, Sherry O'Leary, Frank Moorhouse, Catherine Murphy and Thea !ùelsh. This study would not have been possible without the ungrudging co-operation, good will and skill of aII those who helped me on the technical side, including Ali Ben Katrr, Jacki Gray, Gwen O'Leary and Ivlarian Thompson. Finally and critically, to those people who gave their time and interest in the course of research, my debË is obvious. I hope the value of their support shows up in the following pages. I sincerely thank all these people for their suppor:t both intell-ectual and otherwise. vi CTIAPTER ONE STATE}4ENT OF THEME METHODOLOGY AND THBORY Introductory statement of the theme The theme of this thesis is gender. Gender d.ifferences are identified from a contrast between women and men engaged in bar work, and the sígnificance of these differences is drawn out with special reference to women bar workers. The thesis is an anthropologicat study of the work experiences of those employed to serve drinks in hotet bars, explored according to a gender perspective which contrasts the inter- actional and cognitive patterns of women and. men. I concLude that one critical differentiating factor lies in the manifestation and significance of the sexuality of women bar workers in the social relations of the work place.* rn my concrusion, r rerate the social patterns evident in bar work to ideologies of gender operative in the wider society, moving my analysis beyond the social significance of work relationships internal to bar settings, explored in earlier chapters. Patterns of gender evident in bar work exhibit both consisten- cies and inconsistencies with the gender attributes stated in these ideo- Iogies. This leads to a critical point in my argument elaborated with particular reference to uromen bar workers. The argument is that the gender attributes which are operative in the wider society must be neutralised or distanced in bar settings with reference to both vromen and men bar workers. In this way, where the gender patterns apparent in *My concept of tsexualityt is a narrow one and is encapsulated in the notion of the 'sexual codet, as elaloorated below and in Chapter Six. I 2 bar work are inconsistent with the gender attributes manifest in ideologty, open contradiction between them is avoided. !'or women working in predominantly male-frequented hotel bars, their work entails a range of interactions, including those v¡hich operate within what I describe as a sexual code.* This sexual code has a speciat place in the understanding of the work experiences of women bar v¡orkers. My interpretations of the sexual code are the for¡ndation for a case study of how the presence of women at work in public domains is rend.ered. consistent with, and so maintains, ideologíes of gender which associate women with the domestic sphere. These ideologies highlight women as tnaturally' Iocated in the d.omestic sphere and hightight men as located. in the public world of rculture' (Ortner 1974). My analysis of the significance of the sexual cod.e is an inter- pretation which inter-relates different leve1s of data. Ttrese include the interactional and cognitive details of the social and work relationships evident in hotel bars, when they are viewed as work places. These details, I argue, must be understood with reference to two sets of cultural constructs operative both within and outside of bar settings, and both relevant to the Australian context.

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