Making the Match. Domestic Placement Agencies and the Racialization of Women's Household Work

5/24/2018 Making the Match. Domestic Placement Agencies and the Racialization of Women's Household Work

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Making the Match: Domestic Placement Agencies and the Racialization of Women's HouseholdWorkAuthor(s): Abigail B. Bakan and Daiva K. StasiulisSource: Signs, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Winter, 1995), pp. 303-335Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174951.

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Making heMatch:Domestic lacementAgenciesndtheRacializationfWomen's ouseholdWorkAbigail B. Bakan andDaiva K. Stasiulis

Introduction:itizenshipndpaiddomestic abor/O V E R R E CE N T Y E ARS, there as been a notable hiftnfeministcholarship egardingwomen's abor in the home.While researchn the 1960s and 1970s focusedon thesig-nificance orwomen'soppression funpaiddomestic abor,sincethe1980s scholarshave devotedmoreattentiono the roleofpaiddomestic ervice n oppressingminoritynd working-class omen. Thegrowing nterestn paid domestic abor reflects recognition mongsome feminists hat the employment f domestic workers n privatehouseholds s a crucialmeansthroughwhich symmetricalaceand classrelations mongwomenare structured.See, e.g., Glenn 1986; Sanjekand Colen 1990.) One dimension hatscholarshave insufficientlyx-plored in studies of domesticworkers,however, s the significancefcitizenshiptatus nmediatingheentirematrix f relations ertainingopaid domestic aboron an internationalcale.In this rticle,we arguethat n advancedstateswomen'swork nthehomecannot be fully nderstoodwithout ddressinghecitizenshipta-tusesof members f householdunits nd femalemigrant omesticwork-We wish o thank udithdlerHellman, adhaJhappan,asmeen bu-Laban,ndthe nonymousigns eviewersor heir elpfulommentsnpreviousraftsfthis r-ticle.Anearlier ersion fthis rticle aspresentedothe ixteenthnnualCanadianResearchnstituteor heAdvancementfWomen onference,MakingheLinks:Anti-RacismndFeminism, ovember3-15, 1992,Toronto,ntario, anada.Re-search or his rticle asmadepossible ygrantsrom he ocial ciencesnd Hu-manitiesesearch ouncil f Canadaand theQueen'sUniversitydvisoryesearch

Council. hefindingsresentednthis tudyrepart f a larger roject irectedy heauthorsitled Women fColor,WorkndCitizenship:ilipinondWestndian o-mesticWorkersndRegisteredurses nToronto.[Signs: ournalfWomennCulturendSociety 995,vol.20, no. 2]? 1995 byTheUniversityfChicago.Allrightseserved.097-9740/95/2002-0002$01.00

Winter 1995 SIGNS 303

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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHers.1Whilemigrant omesticworkersackmanybasiccitizenship ights(includinghechoice ofemployernddomicile), heir mployers,ncon-trast, enerally njoyfullcitizenship ights. he increasing emand forin-home hild are ndeveloped apitalist tates nd the imilarlyncreas-ingbuthighly egulated upply f ThirdWorldmigrantwomentogetherwork to structure nd mediatecitizenship ights cross and withinna-tional boundaries.A variety f structural nd legislative estrictionsnteractwith ndi-vidual and collective trategiesnthenegotiation fcitizenship ights.Arangeofgatekeeperserve o select, eject, nd/or estricthe conditionsofentry f femalemigrant omesticworkers ntodeveloped tates; uchgatekeepers nclude state policy-makersnd legislaturesn both thesource and receiving ountries, overnmentisa officers nd other m-migration ersonnel, nd professional ccreditation odies and educa-tional nstitutions.ne key gatekeepingndustryhathas received ittleattentionn the literature,nd thatprovidesthe entrypoint for thediscussion fcitizenship resented ere, s thatofprivate omestic lace-ment genciesthatspecialize n the recruitmentnd placingofmigrantdomesticworkers ntoprivate amily ouseholds.UsingtheCanadian Live-inCaregiverProgram s a case study, hisarticlewill demonstratehepivotalrole ofprivatedomesticplacementagents nnegotiatingitizenship ights ormigrant omesticworkers ndtheir mployers. ather hanapproaching omestic abor as an abstractand universalcategory,we instead draw attention o the variationsamongwomenpositioneddifferentlyn terms f their lass, race, andcitizenship egardingaborperformednthehome.Our analysis s basedlargely n intensiveualitativenterviews ith en of the eadingdomes-tic placement gencies n Toronto,Ontario.Additionally, e observedseveralnational nd international eetingsnd conferencesrganized yplacementgencies nd consulted widevarietyfpolicydocuments ndsecondary ources.The domesticplacementagency industrys extremely olatile.Assmall,often amily-ownedr single-employeeusinesses, genciesopenand closefrequently,articularlyntimes f economic nstabilityuch asthe 1990s. Moreover, n Canada onlythree f tenprovinces-Ontario,Quebec, and BritishColumbia-require licensing.Even in provinces

1Our useof such ermss advanced,eveloped,eveloping,ndhegemonicodesig-nate he conomictatus fgiventatesn theglobal conomyn noway cceptsrankingf statesccordingoethical r culturalriteria.or do weaccept staticvo-lutionarychema fdevelopment,ith teleologicaloalofthe modern tate.Wehaveretainedhese erms ith heunderstandinghat hedevelopmentfThirdWorldstates as beenblocked s a result ftheir conomic elations ith eveloped,mperial-ist tates ndthroughn internationalystemfeconomicndmilitaryompetitionhatforces xternalrioritiesn the nternal anagementf materialnd human esources.304 SIGNS Winter 1995



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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiuliswhere icensing xists,regulatorymechanisms re minimal.All that srequired o obtain a license nOntario,for xample, s thepayment f anominalannual fee. There are also manyunlicensed genciesoperatingillegally,witnessedbya glanceat any dailynewspaper cross Canada.Unscrupulous ractices-including hecontinuous eferral fapplicantsto employers nown to act in violationof the egal labor practices, heprocessing f fraudulentpplicationprocedures hrough ederal mmi-grationchannels, heplacementof undocumented pplicants, nd thecharging fillegalfees-are rampant.Virtually o monitoringccurs ofthepractices f domesticplacement gencies, icensedor not.Moreover,there s a legislative atch-22 endemic n the regulatorypracticesgoverning he recruitmentf foreigndomestic workers nCanada. Immigrations subsumedunder federalpolicyand subjecttoCanadiangovernmentalegulation, utoverseeinghe aborpractices fforeign omesticworkers s the responsibilityf the provinces.As aresult, here s a widediscrepancymongtheprovincesnbothemploy-ment egislation nd theenforcementf such egislation. here s also arecurrentattern f various evelsofgovernmentlaiming hat urisdic-tion forregulation f particular ights allsbeyondtheirmandate. naddition, hough hemajority fforeign omesticworkers re hired operformhild-care uties,Canada lacks a comprehensiveederal hild-care policy.The nationalgovernment as limited ts involvement o anumber ffundingmechanisms orpublicchildcare;these recurrentlyeither rozen r underthreat fcutbacks, urtherxacerbating egionaldifferencesn income eveleligibilityorand theamount of child-caresubsidies.Private hild-care rrangements,owever, re not subjecttoanyofficialtateregulatoryr fundingmechanismsOloman 1992, 4).The agencies nterviewednthis ase studywere selected n the basisofmeetinghecriteria fbeingbona fide, icensed, eputable, nd well-established,with wo ormoreyearsof successful perationnthe ndus-try. he practices nd views dentifiedn interviews ith gencyownerscan therefore e presumed o be representativef thebest the ndustrycan offer,ndicative f itspublicface rather han ts less reputableun-derbelly. ll oftheagencies nterviewed id someoverseasrecruitment.In lightof recessionaryonditions,however, heyalso placed foreigndomestics lreadyresidentnCanada on temporarymploymentutho-rizations.All serviced he area ofToronto,where he argest oncentra-tion nthecountryf n-home,egally ocumented oreign omestics reemployed.

Our analysis lluminates he influential ole of thesegatekeepersnreproducing highly acialized et ofpractices ndcriterian therecruit-ment ndplacement ffemalenoncitizen omesticworkers nCanadianhouseholds.Elsewhere,we have examinedthe case offoreign omesticWinter 1995 SIGNS 305



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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHworkersnthecontext f theextensive ebates ncontemporaryoliticaltheoryregarding itizenshipBakan and Stasiulis1994). In advancedindustrializedountries,migration f refugees nd othermigrants asinteractedwith thedecline n statesupportfor social services nd hos-tility o racialized others o producehierarchies fcitizenship.Whilethestateregulations overning oreign omestics aryfrom ountry ocountry,migrant omesticworkers regenerally ssigned itizenshipta-tuses subordinate o those of their itizen-employers,anging romun-documentedorillegal) tatus o indenturedervitude. s revealed ntheJanuary 993 controversyver Zoe Baird,U.S. President ill Clinton'sfirst omineeforattorney eneral, heemploymentf illegalaliens asdomesticworkers s so widespread mongaffluent merican amilies sto be generallywinked at.2 In Canada, manyThird World domesticworkers ndure a minimum f two yearsof virtualbonded servitude,institutionalizedhroughthe federalgovernment's oreigndomesticworkerprogram.The program ontinues o attract pplicantsonlybe-cause of thepromise fgainingpermanent esidence tatus.InmostFirstWorld ountries,ncluding anada and theUnited tates,thedegraded egal statuses nd conditions f foreign omesticworkershavematuredna context f a general xpansionofcitizenship ights orimmigrantsnd women,thusmakingthenoncitizenshiptatus of mi-grantfemaledomesticworkers ppear anomalous, paradoxical, oranachronistic ncharacterArat-Koc 989; Macklin1992, 749). Whilethere s an important egal dimension o the noncitizenshiptatus offoreign omesticworkers, he mplicationsf thiscase studygo beyondthe legal-juridical riteria ssociated withcitizenship tatus. t can beargued,forexample,that fullcitizenships notpossiblewhen an adultperson s dependent pon a relationship ithanother orpermissionostay nthecountry r is unable to exercise hoice n employer r livingarrangements. oreover, s Roxana Ng has argued,regardless f theirofficial itizenshiptatus, mmigrant omen continue o be commonlyconstrued s less thanfull citizenson the basis of theirminorityan-guages,skincolor,and employmentn low-level ervice nd manufac-turingobs (Ng 1988, 185). Our broader oncept fcitizenshiphereforeincludes ocial, economic, nd legalelements nd presupposesntersect-ingracial,gender, nd class biases.These biases are evidenced learlybythegatekeeping iscourses ndpracticesof the domesticplacement genciesconsideredbelow.Their

2Followingerdisclosurehat hehadknowinglyired woundocumentedorkersfromeru s domestic orkers,oe BairdwithdrewernominationorU.S.attorneygeneral. ccordingoStepheness oftheWashington-basedrookingsnstitution,l-though aird's ffenseisn't ikemurderr arson nd ssomethinghat swidelyoneand winkedt,for he hiefaw enforcementfficert s not llright Corelli 993).Part fthehostilityo Baird's andidacytemmedrom hefrustrationelt y ess fflu-entAmericanstrugglingopayforegal hild are.

306 SIGNS Winter 1995



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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisstrategicole n influencingnd administeringitizenshipracticesnCanadaand nternationallys best xplained, emaintain,y llowingthe atekeepersospeak or hemselves.urmethod eliesxtensivelyndirectuotation,nalyticallyontextualizedoreveal hecentral ate-keepingole f hedomesticlacementndustrynregulatingitizenshippracticesnd deologies.uch n approachhouldnot mply,owever,that hewomenwhorun he gencies,r the mployersheyervice,reindividuallyesponsibleor he reationf uch onstraints.n the on-trary,he evidenceuggestshat norder o survive nd thriventheindustry,genciesmustffectivelyrojectertain acializedndgenderedstereotypes.his deological orkmaintainshe xtremenequityhatexists etweenmployersnd domestic orkermployeess well s theracial anking ithin omesticmploymentierarchies.nparticular,heconstructionnd disseminationf racialized ndgenderedtereotypesaidindemarcatingnd egitimatinghierarchyncitizenshiptatus ndrights.he relationsroughto light hroughhese gencies' ractices,which lay ff he nterestsfonegroup fwomengainsthe ightsfanother, re reflectivef wider structural nd systemic rocesses.In the followingdiscussion we will explore the processes throughwhich suchstereotypesre created nd re-created.We willconsider hevarious lements f theprocess eparately,utour ntentions to indicatelinkagesbetween hemrather han to suggest hatthey perateautono-mously.Movingfrom n examination f thesocially ndpoliticallyon-structed eed withinCanada for ive-indomestic are and thespecificmatchmakingole of domesticplacement gencies,we turnto a briefconsideration f the conditions f poverty nd underdevelopmenthatcompel immigrant omen to look abroad forwork. We thenpresentdetailed xamination f thestereotypingrocesses o whichThirdWorldwomen domesticworkers re subjected, ollowedbya consideration ftheclass interests hat underlie hematchingctivity.n conclusion,weaddress some of the broader mplications f our examination f house-hold labor,gatekeepers,nd citizenship or thecontemporaryeministstudy fdifferencend inequities mongwomen.Live-indomestic care and the sociallyconstructedneed for amatchmaker

The increasing mploymentf womenoutsidethe home n advancedcapitalist ountries nd thegrowing ependence f thefamily pontwoor more ncomeshave led to whathas beendescribed s a crisis n thedomestic phere Arat-Koc1989, 34). Eventhoughwomen arewaitinglonger o have children nd arehaving maller amilies,hedemand forqualitychild care has increased.Thus, while the numberof licensedchild-care paces in Canada had jumpedan impressive 00 percent e-Winter 1995 SIGNS 307



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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHtween1974 and 1991 (from 5,181 to 333,082), therewere nonetheless800,000 more childrenn 1991 who were nunlicensed are thantherehad been eighteenyearspreviously. he vast majority f children nalternativerrangementsrecaredfor ntheunregulatedector. fthese,approximatelyalf recared forbyrelatives,ndtherestbybaby-sittersand nannies nthe child'sownhome,the home ofanother hild,or thehomeof theproviderBeach 1992, 9).Parentsneeding hildcare maydecide to seek live-in are for theirpreschool hildren or varietyfreasons.These nclude hehighfees fregulated are which xceed$1,000 permonth or nfantsnsomepartsof Canada), thedifficultyn obtaining ubsidizedday-care paces,andlimited ccess to subsidies ormiddle-incomeamilies. furtheractorndeterminingheoptionto hire a live-innanny s theirregularworkinghours of a large proportion f workingparents.Public child care iscommonlyvailableonly oparentswho work a five-day eek,Mondayto Friday, romnine to five.According o a 1988 national child-carestudyforCanada, however, 4 percent f interviewedarentsdid notworka standardworkweek (Beach 1992, 9). Parentswho work ntheevenings rweekends, r whoseworking oursvaryfromweekto weekordayto day,find ittle upportntheservices fpublicchildcare.Suchdifficultiesnraising mall childrenwhile bothparents ontinue o workfull timeoutside thehome and the increasing umber f single-parentfamilies ave contributedo a growing emandforfull-timeive-in ar-egiversn Canada as in otherdevelopedWestern ountries. urther,nrecent ears n ideological rgumentharacteristicf a generalbacklashagainstfeminismnd women'srights as tended odiscredit ublicchildcare,despite here eingno basis n fact o the laimthatpublic hild arerisks the emotionalor physicaldevelopment f healthy hildren.3 e-cause of thepoorworking onditions ssociatedwithprovidingive-incare,however, ewworkers n advancedstates eekthis sourceof em-ploymentfanyother abor is available.Domesticplacementgencieshavebenefitedromhesedifficultiesndfrom hebacklashand rise n parentalfearsregarding ublicday care.Theprivate omestic lacementgencysfundamentally middle-manbetween arent-employersnd caregivers,r,moreprecisely, middle-woman, sincethemajority f thesebusinesses re owned and managedbywomen.4Such agenciesserveto match the demandforprivate n-

3 The Universityf New Hampshire's amilyResearchLaboratory oncluded n1988 thattherewas no epidemic f child abuse in day-care entersn the UnitedStates,despitemedia claims to thecontrary.n fact,privatehomeswere cited as farmore dan-gerousfor hildren.See Faludi 1991, 42-43; Doherty1991.)4 In theUnitedStates, hemajornationalorganization fdomestic lacement gen-cies in theearly1990s includednannies nd professionalhild-care ducators s its ma-




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulishomecare with heavailableapplicants o benannies, omestics,nd/orhousekeepers.As one agencyownerput it, Making a placement n aclient'shome is almost ike a marriage. t has to fit. 5Another gencyowner used a differentnalogyto make the same point,stating hat,Getting nanny s likegetting custom-made ress.You don't usttakeit off herack. 6Thusone of thecritical asksundertakenythedomes-ticplacementgency s the creeningfpotential mployees oensure hemostappropriatematchfortheemployer. n employerwho feels uffi-cientlyonfidentomake such a selectionndependentlyas no need fortheagency's ervices. artof theroleof theagency,herefore,s tomanu-facture reater emandby mpressing pon potential lients heneedforprofessional creening.

In Canada, most suchapplicants or n-home aregiving ositions rerecruited rom verseas. The federal egislation overninguchrecruit-ment stheLive-inCaregiver rogramLCP). To be eligible yCanadianlaw tohire domestic hroughheLCP,theprospective mployingamilymust ndicate bility o providea roomin thefamily ome,forwhichrentwould be deductedfromwages earned,and to meeta minimumcombinedannual income.As ofApril1992, that minimumn Ontariowas $65,000 per year, bout $20,000 above the nationalcombined v-erageannualfamilyncome.The LCP policy sdesigned ofill labor market emand hat swidelyacknowledgedas impossibleto fillwithoutforeign ecruitment,venduringperiodsof high unemployment.he law requiresthatforeigndomesticshave a valid offer f full-time,ive-in mployment riortoentryntothecountry.Moreover,for minimumf twoyearsfrom hedate of arrival n Canada, theforeign omesticworker s granted nlytemporary esident tatus n the country. he temporarymploymentauthorizations subjectto termination;n the event that theworker'semployments terminated nd the workpermit s withdrawn,he do-

mesticworker s subjectto deportation.f,however, ll of therequire-ments re met,foreign omesticswho arrive hrough hisprogram reeligible o applyforpermanentr landedimmigranttatus.Landed im-migrants enerally ave the same citizenship ights s fullcitizenswiththeexceptionofvoting n elections, unning s politicalcandidates, rjor constituencies. he International annyAssociation INA) has had registeredmongitsplacement gencies large majority f female wner-operators.n Canada, theCana-dian Coalitionfor n-HomeChild and Domestic Care is an analogousorganization,though ne lessexplicitlyommitted o promotinguality hild care as itsprincipalmandate.The majority f itsagencymemberships similarlyomposedofwomenowner-operators.5AgencyC, interview yAbigailBakan,October2, 1991.6AgencyK, interview y AbigailBakan,October6, 1992.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHtaking p jobs involving ational ecurity. heyare also eligible o applyto become egalcitizens ollowing hreeyearsofresidencen Canada.Domesticplacement gencies hus also control mmigrants'ccess tothe Canadian labor market. he screening rocess s structurallylobalandproneto a widespectrumf nterpretivendculturallydiosyncraticcriteria.Hence,theagencies' perception f the needs ofgenerallywhiteand upper-income anadian families an be highlynfluential. his in-fluence erves operpetuateacial/ethnicndgenderedtereotypesndtodetermine he sourcecountriesnd number f female omesticworkers.Assessing hequalityof child care in terms f thenationalityr race ofthe child-care iver s a standardfeature f thematching rocess.Onehighly eputable gency wner,for nstance, ummarized ercompany'ssuccess n terms favoidingpoormatches: Our philosophys 'qualitychild care.' The averageCanadian child s poorlymannered nd poorlybrought p. Unless theparents re lucky noughto have had Europeanparentswhoare more trict.... And the schoolsystemsn'thelping ereeither. heyhave these routinesn Europe,but here t's one bigMont-essori school.You take a spoiledCanadian child,a stressed-outamily,and a ThirdWorldwoman from laid-back ulture. hat's a recipefortrouble. 7Another gency wnerwith verydifferentpinionof Cana-dian childrearing till arrived t a similar onclusionabout the desir-ability fEuropean caregivers:A lot of familieswouldlikea European,with a culture nd standardof living imilar o theirown. Theydon'twant someonewho wants to be a nanny ll her ife. t's a good wayforother ultures o learnto speakthe anguage.... I don't wantto soundprejudiced, ecauseI'm not. But Canadians are-well, culturally-moreeducated,different. 8Becausechildcare is consideredwoman's work nCanada as well asinternationally,he assumption s that it is a skill thatrequires ittleformal raining, elyingnsteadon a special combination f naturalcharacteristics.acializedstereotypeslso prevail n both theperceivedand socially onstructed eedsoftheemployersnd theprojected har-acteristicsf theprospective mployees.Because agenciesare normallypaid bytheemployer n thecompletion f a successful lacement, su-allyat the rate of one month fthe domestic's alary, nd their ervicesare backedbya three- o six-monthuarantee o replace he domestic ftheemployers notfully atisfied,t is not surprisinghat theagenciesinterviewedniversallyredited heir conomic uccess ocarefullymeet-ing the racial and ethnic tereotypesf their lients.A fewexamplesillustrateheallocativerole of racial and ethnic tereotypesn theselec-

7 AgencyG, interviewy AbigailBakan,November 2, 1991.8 Agency , interviewy AbigailBakan and Daiva Stasiulis,May 21, 1991.




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulistionprocess.One placement gentclaimed, I'm notprejudiced t all,but f familyaysthey on't want someonewho speaksChinese, can'tplacesomeone ntheir omewhois Chinese.We are differents domesticplacement genciesfromothertypesof employmentgencies.We aredealingwith theright f families o have someone ivein,and to raisetheir hildren. 9Another gencyownerput it thisway: I cannotsay this, know,becauseI could be chargedfor hisunder he Human RightsCode. Butletmegiveyou an exampleof thisbusiness. have a client, man,whosaid thathe couldn'tstand the hairdo of a girl sentto himfor aninterview. e couldn't stand to look at her on a dailybasis with thathairdo.He had nothing gainstblacks,but t was all inlittle raids, ndhe hatesthat.His wifewantedtohireher.He and his wifehad a terriblefight verit.... The couple called me up becausetheywerearguing.said, I knowyouwanther,but won't recommend er.Because t's notfair o you,and it'snotfair o thegirl.'His wifewas angrywithmefortakinghis side,but that'show I see it. 10The most commerciallyuccessful genciesalso screenprospectiveclients s well.Thepremises that hemost uitable mployersikelywillreturno theagencyfor heir uture omestic aborneeds,refer hem otheir riends,nd bemost atisfied ith heapplicants heymeet.Who isconsidered good clientbytheagency s also determinedytheagen-cy's preconceivednotionsof what constitutes ualitychild care. Oneagencyownerclaimed, I am stunnedbywhat Canadian women arewilling osettle or nchild are.Theydon'tcheckreferences.heyworrythatgirlsmaybe stealing rwhatever,ndI say,Well, ren'tyouworriedaboutthequality f child care?'Peopleare moreworried bout whethertheir ropertys being tolen han about how theirkids are beingcaredfor.fyouare ookingfor slave,youare notan idealemployer. nannyis a humanbeing, nd she s looking fter ourmostpreciouspossession,your hildren. ask theemployers,What sgoing o suffer?Will tbethechild areorthehousework?' 11Anothertated, Wespend lot of timetalking o thefamilies ... We screen hefamilies s well as thegirls. otsof timeswe turn own familiess placements. he familieshat ppealtous are usuallyones withsharedresponsibilities.We meetwithall thefamilies eforeweplace.... We do a lotof workwithnewparents.fwe

9 Ibid.10 AgencyC, interviewy AbigailBakan,October1, 1991. All of theplacementagencies nterviewedoutinelyeferredo the domesticworkers s girls, egardless ftheir ctual age,whilefemale mployerswere neverreferredo usingthisterm.The classand racially pecific ender tereotypingn this inguistic ifferentiations obvious.Onthe role of linguistic eferencen thedomestic/employerelationship,ee Rollins1985,158.' AgencyE, interview yAbigailBakan,October23, 1991.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHcanget hem,we have them or everalyearswhile he hild syoung, ndthey may have more children.Also, they'refresh.We can educatethem. 12 he suitabilityfemployerss often ntirelyubjectivelyeter-mined,without venthepretense f a formal rocedure. omeagenciesscreen imply n the basis of an employer'snitial elephone nquiry reven a message eft n an answeringmachine.One agent opined, Theemployers o not have a clue about how to supervise nanny, s youwould,for xample, clerk r a secretary.can usually ellwhich lientsI shouldconcentraten. If amextremelyusy, maynot even have thetime o phoneback and saythat can'thelpyou. 13Moreover,the timeagencies spendscreening otential mployerssconsiderablyhorter,ndthequality ftheperusalmore uperficial,hanthatspent electingmployees. he scrutinyfthegatekeeperss there-forenota balancedorneutral rocess, espite he ndustry'slaims o thecontrary.he imperativef theagencies s tofind placementuitable oa preconceived,deologically onstructeddeal Canadian family romamong a pool of applicants, imilarly reconceived nd treatedwithsuspicion s unlikelyandidates. o the xtent hat lients rescreened ythe gencies, heemphasis s on clients' ttitudes egardinghildcare andfamilyvalues and on economicissues,such as the capacityto paywages and to provide heprivate oomrequiredbythe Canadian legis-lation.Not onlyare theparties ubjectto differentialcrutinyytheplace-ment genciesbutthey re also entitled o differentialights fscrutinyofeachother, gainmaking elevant heanalogybetween ive-in omes-ticworkers nd an arrangedmarriage. he opportunityo scrutinize heapplicationof theprospectiveive-in omestic,ike thatoftheprospec-tivebride, s virtually nlimited;n contrast,heopportunityf theap-plicant o obtain nformationegarding futuremployer r husband svirtually onexistent.

Unlikethe phenomenonof arrangedmarriage,however, host ofcontradictoryressures ombine n thematching rocessthatrelatetothegenuineneed forqualitychildcare,on the one hand,and the lowstatusofgivingive-in are,on the other. he work nvolves onghours,low remuneration,nd little ontrol ver one'swork or conditions.t isalso socially solating,nvolves ompulsory eparation rom ne'sfamily,and is highly roneto employerbuse. Canadian workers, r anynon-citizenworkersn Canada with ccessto the wider abormarket, ener-allydo notapplyfor ive-inwork nprivate amily omes.The availableapplicantsupply s largelyof ThirdWorldorigin-a reflectionf the

12AgencyG, interviewyAbigailBakan,November22, 1991.13 AgencyF, nterview yAbigailBakan,November6, 1991.




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisunequal globalrelations etweenCanada and ThirdWorld tates s wellas of the ow status ssociated withchild-care rovision ngeneral ndin-home hild care inparticular.14

Agenciesdiffer s to whether heyview thepredominance f ThirdWorld mmigrant omenamong foreign omesticworkers s a positiveor negativedevelopment. mongsomeagenciesthere s an assumptionthatpaid domesticworkis not suitable for Canadian women but thatnon-Canadians, pecificallymmigrant omenof color, are inherentlysuitableto perform omestic ervice.15 n earliergovernment rogramalmost dentical o theLive-inCaregiver rogram itled heForeignDo-mesticMovementFDM), inoperation rom 981 to 1991, required hatdomesticsupgradetheir killsupon arrival n Canada in orderto beeligible orpermanentesident tatus nthecountry.16btaining erma-nent mmigrationtatus ommonlywould mean eaving ive-in omesticwork s other mploymentptionsbecame egally ccessible.At eastoneagency expressedconcernthat such a policy wronglypresumedthatimmigrant omen were not ideallysuitedto perform omestic abor:Mywholeproblemwith heFDM program, speciallyWest ndian butalso Filipinowomen, s thatthey rehappyto be a domestic or he restoftheir ives. But theFDM pressures hem o upgrade.Theyfeelpres-sured not to be a domestic, nd then hey an't do anythinglse butgoon welfare. 17In contrast, therdomesticplacement genciesview the current re-dominance f mmigrant,nd especially hirdWorld,women nprovid-ing ive-in areas unacceptable. heseagencies, ather,wishto improvethestatus nd reputation f in-home are so thatnannyingwillbecomea credible and respectedprofession or Canadian women. This is theview,for xample,ofa leading pokesperson or he Canadian Coalitionfor n-Home Child and Domestic Care: I feelwe have to increase hestatus fnannyingnCanada. You don't ustneeda physical ody nthehouse ifyou need a nanny.A childorientation as to be a majorcon-

14 The low statusof live-in are is also a feature f the U.S. context. ince the enact-ment n 1986 ofhighly estrictivemmigration oliciesassociatedwiththehiring f un-documentedworkers, owever, herehas beengreater ressure n employerso hireprofessional annieswho areU.S. citizens.15As EvelynNakano Glennpointsout,theassociationofAfricanAmerican,Mexi-can American,ndJapaneseAmericanwomen withdomestic ervice nthe U.S. has per-petuated hemyth hatwomen of color are naturally uitedfordegraded abor. SeeGlenn1992, 32.16 The main features istinguishinghe new Live-inCaregiver rogram rom heFDM were the ncreased ducational nd formal raining equirementss entrance rite-ria and the removalofupgradingnd other ligibilityequirementsorobtaining erma-nentresidenttatus.The sharedfeatures fbothprograms re therequirementshattheforeign omesticprovide woyearsof live-in ervice nd thetemporaryesident tatusofthe worker orthose nitial woyears n Canada.17 AgencyH, interviewyAbigailBakan,December12, 1991.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHcern. 18mplicitnherposition s a belief hatnoncitizens ack such anorientation.Although his view is not necessarilyharacteristic f thecoalitionmemberships a whole, t s, however, heperspectivedoptedbythe nternational annyAssociation INA). The INA is based in theUnited States but has an internationalmembershiphat ncludesmem-bersoftheCanadian Coalitionfor n-HomeChildandDomesticCare inCanada. The INA in 1991 defined tself s an organizationommitted omaintaining ighstandards f professional onduct n regard o theprofessional evelopment fnannyingnAmerica nd internationally(International annyAssociation1991). The corollarymessageof theINA'sphilosophywas thateven trainednon-Americanannies re poorchild-care roviders.n thisvein, NA publicationswarnparents o Be-ware the Au Pair :

You mayor maynot have any idea what the au pair knows ofAmericanife. hemaybecometerriblyomesick nd leaveimme-diately. f she stays, hepreemploymentetterswrittenn labori-ouslyexecutedEnglishmaybe theextent fher anguagecompre-hension. Chances are that the appliancescommonto Americanmiddle lasshouseholds reforeigno her. f her anguage kills remarginal, he will certainlyhave difficultyeadingthe instruc-tions.... It isvery ifficultor n American o assess thechildcareskillsof a foreignu pair,much essherfamily r moralcharacter.Even the au pairwho has had extensive rainingn a child carerelated ieldmaynotbeparticularlykilfulwithyour hildren-yetthere he is and you are stuckwithher. Davis n.d.]19The racially elective riteria hereforepplynotonly o thescreeningprocessofprospectiven-home aregivers ut also to an ascriptiveet ofcriteriaregarding he defining eaturesof designatedCanadian and

Americanfamilyneeds. The assumptionof universalityf a white,middle-class,nglish-speakinguclear amily recludes, or xample, helargepercentageffamiliesnNorthAmerica orwhomEnglish s notafirstanguageand whose childrenmaynot normally peak Englishathome. The overtly acialized discourseand practices,however,entermoredirectlyn the recruitmentnd screening f theapplicants.Thisbringsus to a consideration fthe conditions fpoverty nd underde-velopmenthat hemajority fforeign omesticworkersnCanada who18Marna Martin, nterviewyAbigailBakan,September 6, 1991.19Despitecoherent olicy tatements, owever, nderlying isunityn the NA led toa three-wayplit n 1992. The divisionwas accounted o thecontinuingonflict e-tweenthe business nterestsfagencies nd theprofessional evelopmentoncerns fnannies NationalNannyNewsletter 992, 2).




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulishave been recruitedverrecent ears eektoescape. UnderstandingowCanadian domesticworkerpolicyhas beenconstructedo take advan-tageof these onditionss critical o situatinghegatekeepingunction fthedomesticplacement ndustryn a global context.Poverty, nderdevelopment,and domestic workers

The Canadian government's olicy of compulsory emporary esi-dencestatusfordomestic ervice stablishedwhat one team of scholarscalls a class ofpeople good enough o do their irtywork,butnotgoodenough obepermanentesidents Martin ndSegrave1985, 121). Theexistence flargenumbers f ThirdWorldworkershighlymotivated oachievesecureemploymentor themselves nd theirfamilieshas miti-gatedtheoperationof a puremarketmodelof supply nd demand ndomestic abor. n conditions f a chronic abor shortage, lassicaleco-nomicswouldpredict n increase nwagesand inthequality fworkingconditions n order to attract aborers.Domestic abor has provenre-markablymmune o suchoperationsof themarket,however.This isprimarily ecauseofthe restrictiveonditions femploymento whichnoncitizensnsearchofcitizenshipreprone.The notion f housekeep-ingfor he Green Card inthe UnitedStatesdescribed yShelleeColen(1990) is paralleled n theCanadian contextbythepracticeof doingdomestic o get anded (Macklin 1992). Moreover, acial andgenderedbarriers o labormobility estricthe alternativemploymentptionsofdomesticworkers ven once formal itizenships obtained.Migrationandpaid domestic ervice re thus lements f a globalset of inkagesnwhichgendered nd racialized deologiesplaya significantart.The conditions f underdevelopmentithin hePhilippines nd theCaribbeanhave createdthe historic ole of theseregions s themajorThirdWorld ourcesfor herecruitmentfforeign omesticsnCanada.In thepostcolonialperiod, he egacyofimperialism as combinedwithmodernconditionsof indebtedness o generate arge pools of femalemigrantabor in some Third World states hatcan be tappedto fill hedemandin the domestic are industry f industriallydvanced states.Structuraldjustment oliciesadvocatedbythe nternationalMonetaryFund and the World Bank demand that Third Worldgovernmentsuttheir ocial servicebudgets nd public-sectormploymentnd instituteeconomiccontrols hatfavor heexportofcommodities ver ocal mar-ketexpansion.One result s increasedmigrationfworkersn searchofoverseasemployment.Priorto 1962, when a point systembased on skill and educationreplaced heprevious olicy fregional ndrace-specificelection riteriafor mmigration, anada had an explicitly acistgovernmental olicy




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHrestricting est ndian mmigrationo Canada. In 1958,for xample, hedirector f theImmigration ranch of theDepartment f Citizenshipexpressed hehistoric rientation fthegovernmentf Canada whenhewrote, It is not by accident thatcolored British ubjectsother thannegligiblenumbersfrom the United Kingdom are excluded fromCanada.... Theydo notassimilate eadily nd prettymuchvegetate oa low standardof living.Despitewhat has been said to thecontrary,manycannotadapt themselveso our climatic onditions Satzewich1989, 77). In 1955, a limitednumber f West ndianwomen workerswerepermittedo enterCanada on the condition hattheyremain ndomestic ervicewith contractuallyesignated mployer orone year;after his timetheywere permittedo obtain otheremployment. hepolicywas clearlydiscriminatory,s the West Indianworkers,unlikedomesticworkers rom urope,received o governmentssistance n thecost ofpassage.Moreover, lthoughpermanentesident tatuswas ob-tainedupon arrival,Caribbean domesticsweresubject o specialcondi-tionsof virtualndenturend the hreat fdeportationhatdid notapplyto domestics rom uropeansourcecountries.Between 973 and 1981, West ndian womenworkerswere admittedas domesticworkersonly on temporarymployment isas, althoughothers ntered s skilledworkersparticularlynnursingwhen herewereperiodic abor shortages) r as sponsoredrelatives. heirnumbers s awhole,however, ave remained mallandhavebeendeclining elative oother ource countries. etween1973 and 1978, of all immigrantsb-taining ermanent,r anded, tatusnCanada, thosefromllCaribbeansourcecountries otaledonly 10 percent;by 1980, thatfigurewas 6percentRichmond1989, 3).20Conversely,ne of themostrapidly n-creasing lternativeourceregions f mmigrationo Canada overall, swell as inthemigrationfforeignomestics,sthePhilippines. romJuly1975 to June1976, 44.8 percentof all entrants o Canada's foreigndomestic rogramwere from heCaribbean, nd only0.3 percentwerefromall countries n Asia; by 1990 the trend n sourceregionshadreversed: nly 5 percentof foreign omesticentrantswere fromtheCaribbean,while over 58 percentwere from hePhilippinesStrategicPlanning nd ResearchDirectorate 990).21In sum,it is not thegatekeeperswho producethepool of migrantfemale abor forthe domesticplacementndustry utpoverty nd un-derdevelopment. ut gatekeepingmechanisms o determinehe terms

20 The largest ingle ourcecountrywas Jamaica,followedby Guyana,Haiti,andTrinidad.21 After 973 and prior o 1981, live-in omesticworkers rrived n temporarym-ployment isas withno specialprovision or heattainment fpermanentesident tatus(Arnopoulous1979, 61; Task Force on Immigrationractices nd Procedures 981, 49).




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisandconditionsf ccessnto evelopedtates ormmigrantsttemptingto escapeextremeoverty.itizenshipracticesnternalo advancedstates ave avoredhe xpansionf itizenshipightsn directionwayfrom heperformancefpaiddomesticervice. atekeeperso citizen-ship erve oregulatehe ntrynto ndexit rom ation-statesnd abormarketss well s access ocitizenshipights.llgatekeepersccomplishthiswork npart hroughhe onstruction,rticulation,ndreproduc-tion f tereotypesboutwho s,or snot, nappropriateandidate orcitizenshipithin given ation-state.Constructinghestereotypes:The islandgirls nd yourFilipinosSocially nd politicallyonstructedtereotypesre mostoftenn-scribed ith iscoursesndsomaticmageshat ssume ertainypes fracial, thnic,ender,lass, nd sexual ppropriateness.s definedyBarbaraBush, A stereotypes a composite icture f an individualwhich,while eflectingn elementfreality,istortst.... It s flexibleand[yet] an exhibit massive urability,ven ntheface fhistoricalchange Bush 990,12-13). Asdiscussedarlier,acial tereotypingsendemicothematchingrocess hatdefinesheparametersf thedo-mesticlacementndustry,nwhichuccessfulomesticlacementgen-ciespride hemselvesntheirbilityorender perfect atch etweenclientndapplicant-in ractice,heirbilityostereotypena way hatisconsistentithmployers'xpectations.uch acial tereotyping,ow-ever,s neither ewnorunique othis articularatekeeper.From heearly1900s to the1960s,for nstance, hiteEuropeandomestics ere avorednCanadian olicyndwere rovided ithessrestrictiveonditions orpermanentlyesidingn thecountry.heseyoung omen,rimarilyromnglandndScotland, ere ecruitedithan eyetoa raciallydentifiedation-buildingroject. heanticipationwas that hesewomen f good tock wouldbecome hewives fwhiteCanadianmen nd thefuture othersfwhite anadian hildrenSta-siulis ndWilliams992).Theavailabilityfwhite uropean omen orthis ype fwork eclined,owever,s industrialxpansion pened pothermploymentptions or hem.Moreover,s colonial olicies is-locatedmillionsfnonwhite omen romgriculturalubsistencero-duction,notherource f servantaborwasbroughtntoreplace u-ropeanwomen.Womenn the olonies fthe mpires ere onsideredparticularlyell-suitedoperformomesticabor,ntheir wnregionsand for ecruitmentbroad.ThroughoutolonialAfrica,or nstance,British,utch,ndFrenchmperialolicyncluded omecraftlasses orwomenndyoung irls.nLatinAmerica, sia, nd theCaribbean,he




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHlegacyof centuries f imperialism as led to the continual reationofunemployed emaleworkerswho are recruitedo performomestic u-ties forthe families f colonialsettlersr the families f the ndigenousurban elites.Althoughmaleworkersnthecolonies were no lessforcedintopovertynd unemployment,omestic abor remained rimarilyhedomain of women workers.The African lave tradeand theexpansionofplantation ocieties nthe Caribbean and thesouthernUnited Statesweresimilarlyentral othisglobal processand werepivotal inks betweenracism and the ex-ploitation ffemale omestic abor.Blackwomen, s slaves ndservants,werecommoditizeds boththe aborers ndsexualobjectsof theirwhitemasters.Out ofthese onditions lourishedhe mageof AuntJemima,theblack mammy who was expected o care for he children fwhiteladies nthe slave conditions fplantationAmerica. lavery s a form fdomestic ervice,with ts attendantruelties,lso existed nBritain ur-ingthe time.Duringthe ruleofQueen Anne,for nstance, n advertise-mentfrom he slaveportsofBristol ffered reward f a guineafor hereturn f a NegroMaid, aged about 16 Years,muchpittedwith theSmallPox, speaks Englishwell,having pieceofher eftEar bit offbya Dog; She hath on a strip'd tuffwaistcoat nd Petticoat Fryer 984,63). This imageof the debased black domestic lave contrasts harplywith that of Mary Poppins-the firmbut lovingwhitegoverness orwhiteupper-classhildren.Even n finde siecleBritain, owever,MaryPoppins caricatured nly a small segment f Britishnannies.Collegenanny rainingnBritain egan n 1892 withtheopeningof theprivateNorlandInstitute t NottingHill in London to supply hepublicwithladies as nurses oryoung hildren. oday, fthe pproximately0,200postsecondarytudents nrollednsome 200 collegeprogramshatoffertheNationalNursery xamination oard NNEB] certificatenBritain,22themajorityreupperworking lassorlowermiddle lass and unable topaythehigh ees equired ythefewprivatenstitutionsuchasNorland;a considerableportionof NNEB students re also of racial and ethnicminorities.)23Out ofthesehistorical onditions fslaverynd colonialism nd ofanincreasinglynternationalabormarket, ariousracialized nd genderedimagesof domesticworkers nd caregivers ave persistedn the nine-teenth nd twentiethenturies. ne purposeof such deological tereo-typing as been toportray fictive,niversal onwhite, emale, onciti-zen Otherwhose biologicaland ostensibly aturalmakeupascribesher

22 The number f NNEB collegeswas documented t 146 in approximately980(Brierleyt al. n.d.,7, 22). The higher igures for1992. Maureen Smith SeniorAssis-tantDirector,NNEB), interviewyAbigailBakan,St.Albans,England,July 6, 1992.23 MaureenSmith,nterviewy Abigail Bakan, July 6, 1992.




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisas inherentlyppropriateor rivateomesticervice. notherasbeento rationalizellocation f differentroups fmigrant omen, y kincolorand other nvidious istinctions,nto a racial/ethnicierarchywithin omestic orkCohen1987,36-38).In theUnited tates, or nstance,neplacementgencywner x-plainedwhy o fewnannies f colorwere ctivemembersf the nter-national annyAssociation:

The NAattendancet this r otherNAconferencess notrepre-sentativef nanniesngeneraln theUnited tates.nmy gency,we holdnannyet-togethers,nd herehe epresentationouldbequite ifferent.ereyou re eeingheAmericanannies,ndtheygenerallyo notworknthe ity ut nsuburbanreas.Theprofileinthe itywouldbe a mix. hey re22to 55years ld, omewouldbe black. omewouldbethe ypicallackmammy,ouknow, hohadraised enkids fher wn ndwas a grandmothery he imeshewas45,with bigbosom, ouknow.Otherswouldbe PuertoRican.A mix.Butall wouldbe residentliens, hat s havetheirgreenards, utnot ll of themwouldbe Americanitizens.24

The notion f anAmericananny ho sneitherispanic orblacknoran mmigrantsreflectivef he ttemptocreate new tereotypeistinctfromhat f he esignatedthers,hought spreciselyhese thershatreinfactmore eflectivef mpiricaleality.nthis gencywner'srojectedimage,t squite lear hathe blackmammyndthe Americanannyare ncounterpositionoone notherhooks 981,84-85).Thegatekeep-ers hereforelay role ndefininghe acializedmagesppropriateotonly o thenoncitizenannyut lso to the itizenanny.InCanada,LCPlinks he asks f he omesticlacementgency ithboth xternalnd nternaltereotypicalmages. hat s,theforeigno-mestic orker,othnherhome ountrynd within anada, ssubjectto a specificeries fascriptiveharacteristicsithin totalizingtereo-type. orthe astdecade, he argestingleource egionorive-inareinCanadathroughheprogramasbeen hePhilippines,ollowed yEurope, he UnitedKingdom,nd theEnglish aribbeanprincipallyJamaica,rinidad,ndBarbados).ince hemid- 970s,however,mongThirdWorld ource ountrieshere asbeen precipitousrop nthenumber f newentrantsrom heCaribbean ndan inversencreasenthose romhePhilippinesseefiguresited bove).The reasons or his hiftredifficultodetermine,ut t s clear hatunemployment,overty,ndpressureoemigratebroadfrom heCar-

24 AgencyJ, nterviewyAbigailBakan,June 7, 1992.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHibbean source countrieshave not declined.Evidencesuggests hat thischange nsource ountrieswas notentirelyccidental, owever, nd thatgatekeepersn Canada playeda significantole in nudging t along. Amemorandum romRanjitS. Hall, the 1974 chief of ImmigrantndMigrantServices, ddresses the processing f temporary mploymentvisas fordomesticsdestined o arrive n Canada fromJamaica. t de-scribes situationwherebyounselors romCanada Manpower govern-mentemploymententerswererefrainingfromforwardingrders tosend foreign omestics] o Jamaica and this has caused a build upthere Daenzer 1991, 208, n. 15). Moreover, he shiftnprimary hirdWorld sourcecountries rom he Caribbeanto thePhilippinesoincidedwith a decline n the role of governmentounselors n arranging hematch with prospective mployers n Canada and the emergent ndstepped-upnterventionfprivate mploymentgencies n recruitmentand selectionDaenzer 1993).Interviews ith ownersofplacement gencies nToronto, hemajorhostcity n Canada forforeign omestics, eveala definite attern fracial and ethnic tereotypingf domesticworkers.Such stereotypingdelineates harply etweendomestics f Caribbeanand Filipinoorigin.Regarding he mageof theformer,hepassiveand lovingmammyhasbeenreplaced byan apparentlywidely ccepted magethat s variouslyaggressive,ncompetent,nd cunninglyriminal. houghshifts uch astheseare difficulto measure,this one seems to have taken place ininverse roportiono a rise norganized esistancemong ive-in omes-tics to abusive conditions n Canadian employmentnd immigrationpractices t a timewhen Caribbean womenpredominated mongThirdWorldforeign omesticworkersnCanada.Symptomaticfthis rendwas the stablishmentn1979 of a domesticworkers' dvocacyorganizationnToronto,NTERCEDE. This organi-zationwas ultimatelyuccessfulnwinningherighto earnovertime ayor time ff or vertime ork ndparticipatedna high-profileampaignto reverse he threatenedeportation f a groupof womenwho came tobe known as the SevenJamaicanMothers. 25Militantorganizing ordomesticworkers'rightswas not consistentwith the historicmammystereotype. lthough omestic lacementgencies peratingnthe 1990sare notnecessarilyware of thishistory,s mediatorsbetweenfederalimmigration olicyand theprivateCanadian hometheyplaya centralrolein transmittingnd reproducing tereotypedmagesthataccord, ndistorted orm,with uch a history. aciststereotypeshatportray ar-ibbean domestics s intellectuallynd emotionallyll-equipped o careforCanada's younghavehelpedto justify hathas operated neffect s

25See Leah and Morgan 1979; Donner1987; Townson1987; Silvera1989.




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisa blacklist gainstblack nannies. Here is how one agencyownerputthe case:

I'm at the pointnow,where if I hear it's an island girlon myansweringmachine, won't even nterview.fyou'refrom amaica,I won't interview ou. I know this s discrimination,ut I don'thave timefor his.Often t theend of a day, utof20 messages nmy nsweringmachine,'d say18 arefrom he slands. don'twantthem.... Jamaican irls re ustdumb.They re notqualified obechild-careworkers. t's not theirfault;they ust don't have theeducation.Theycan take twohoursto fill ut a nanny pplicationform. 'd love togetcalledup byHumanRights.f werecalled n,I'd sayto them: Do youhavechildren? o youcare about them?Wouldyou leave yourchild withsomeone who was incapableofdialing 911 ? 26As mediators,heagencies lso reflect hestereotypedmagesheldbytheirclients. f an employerhas had what she perceives o be a badexperiencewith a live-inforeign omestic, commontendencys toavoid repeatingheproblemby avoiding he racial or ethnic opulationof which the earlieremployeewas a member.Because the abilityto

providechild care and housework s expected o be a natural ttributerather han a setof skillsthatare learnedor taught, rawingupon analternativeenepool rather hanproviding ifferentnstructionsrseek-ing a differentombination f acquiredcredentials s seen as thebestremedialapproach.Moreover,raciststereotypingrom he employersdetermineshe actual ob descriptionheplacementgent s hired o fill.According o another gencyowner: It is much harder o place a WestIndian thana Filipino.We say to our clients hatyou can't stereotype,that there re good and bad candidates n every ace. We tellour em-ployers,Leave itup to us. Letuspresent ouwith hebestcandidateforthe ob.' But we have a hard timeplacingWest ndians n jobs. I knowthat hat sdiscrimination,utthey re ookingforpeopleto do jobs andto live as tenants. ometimes hehusband sreally acist.Or theemploy-erswillsaythat heir hildren reafraid fsomeonewho is of a differentcolor. 27Because the law regulatingherecruitmentf foreign omestics e-quires n offer femploymentefore nteringhecountry,uchpatternsofdiscriminationesultnrestrictedccess to theCanadian labormarket.Anecdotal evidencesuggests hatmore prospective omesticworkers

26 AgencyE, interviewy AbigailBakan,October23, 1991.27 AgencyF, nterviewy AbigailBakan,November6, 1991.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHfrom heCaribbean rebeingforced oenter anada onvisitors' ermits,refugee apers,or as illegal immigrants,reating viciouscyclethatreinforceshestereotypedmage.Unless a workpermits granted, lac-ing domesticswith these immigrationtatuses s illegal,and the em-ployee, employer, nd the placement gentcould all be chargedwithcriminal ffenses nder urrent anadian immigrationaw. The myth fthe Jamaican riminal has been cultivatedn a seriesofmajornewsstoriesnthe Canadian press,whichreinforceshenegative mageof thecriminalllegaldomesticworker.28Nor is theimageof foreign omesticworkersfrom he othermajorThirdWorld sourceregion, hePhilippines,nymoreaccurate han themorenegative tereotypingfWest ndian islandgirls. Agency wnerstend to present compositeof passive and active traits mong yourFilipinos a derogatory xpressionused when addressing therwhiteCanadians,whoarepresumedo be able to claimsome sort fownershipor parental ights verFilipino mmigrants).29his image s notableforthecontradictory annernwhichpassivitywiththe childrens seen asa negative ttribute utpassivitywith heemployers seenas a positiveone.One agent's erspectiveummarizeshe tereotypediewofFilipinonannies s being imultaneouslyoo soft with he hildren utcorrectlyrespectful fauthoritytwork,which s seen as professional ;t thesametime, t indicates sense oftrepidationhatpassivity owardem-ployers ould be undergoingomechange:

Most of my placements re from hePhilippines,morethan 50percent, y farthehighestpercentage. ilipinonannies are verysoft,theydon't stimulate he children.They cannotcontrolthechildren,t doesn't come naturally o them.Socially, heFilipinonanny omes from culturewhere hey reextremelyespectfulfelders, fauthority,ndthey re trained ot to offerheir iews ooaggressively.... Filipinonannies were always moregiving,veryprofessionalna sense.Butnowthe hine scoming ff heFilipinonanny.... I knowthis,becausesomeclientshave toldme this. tdoesn't pplyto all theFilipinos.Generally,ilipinos regoodwithhousework, utnotalways.You could alwaysgeta dud.30AsFilipinodomesticsncreasinglyook to collective trategieso chal-lenge exploitive onditions,domesticplacement genciesare similarlyaltering heirformerlyositiveperspectives.WhereasFilipinonannies

wereonce seenas frugalnd ambitious ecausethey avedtheir arnings,28 See Appleby1992a, 1992b, 1992c.29 Agency, interviewyAbigailBakan,May 21, 1992.30 AgencyD, interviewyAbigailBakan,October15, 1991.




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisrecently,here re indications hat nannies' desireto receiveadequateremunerationor overtimes fueling stereotypef the greedy Fili-pino, selfishlyxploiting he Canadian immigrationystem. ne agencyowner omplained: A groupthatyoucan saycome to workhere usttoget anded [i.e.,obtain andedimmigrant,r permanent,tatus] re theFilipinos.For them,whatthey re after s money,money,money.Withothergroups, omestayand some don't.... There s a surplusofFili-pinos here who are being sponsoredby legitimate ffers. here is asurplus f bodiesin this ountry. 31n response o a questionregardingthe relativenumberof Filipinodomesticsher businessplaces, anotheragency esponded, Too many.... But theFilipinos resmarter hantheislandgirls. 32A class act: Gender, race, and the market

Regardlessof thepersonalviewsof the domesticplacement gencyowners,the structural ressures o accommodateracially nd sexuallyoppressivedeologies recompelling o small businessmanagers perat-ing n a highly ompetitivemarket.When theprivatehousehold s trans-formed ntoa waged workplace, class division akesplace inside tswalls. If the transaction s legal,thehome literally ecomesregisteredwith thegovernments a small business, nd the interests f theem-ployeeand theemployer re delineated longclass-differentiatedines.Despitethemediating ole of theprivatedomesticplacement gent,the agency's nterestsn thematch are not those of a neutral rbiter.Rather, here re profound tructural ressures n agenciesto identifywith theemployer verthe nterestsf theemployeddomesticworker.The objective lass interests f theagency s a small business upportedbya clientele femploying amilies endto mold and alter nycounter-vailingforces hatcompel dentification iththedomestic mployee.Eventhoughplacement gents re commonly f thesamegender sthe domesticworkers heyplace,and occasionally fthesamerace,theclass dynamic eparating heirnterests as a moreprofound nd deter-miningmpact.Agency wners re also commonly f the amegender sthe womenemployerswho generallymanagetheworking nvironmentofthehired omestics;mong he icensed nd more stablishedgencies,theoperators/managersre moreoften hannot also likely o be whiteand professional.Many placement gencyownersare sympatheticosome notion offeminism,roadlydefined s a commitmento thead-vancement fwomen'srights nd opportunities. heirworkis largely

31 AgencyB, interview yAbigailBakan,September 6, 1991.32 AgencyE, interviewyAbigailBakan,October23, 1991.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHabout enablingworkingwomen withprofessional areers to advanceunhindered ythe burdenofhousework nd child care.Theoptionsfor hefuture hatmaybe available forwhite rofessionalwomenenjoyingfullcitizenship ightsn a developed capitalist tate,however, re not the same as theoptionsofpoor and unemployedm-migrant omenof color whosecitizenshipightsreseverelyimitedndrestricted. oreover, heemploymentfthe atter s a domestic ervantcan and does operateas a privatizedmeans to advance thesocial citi-zenshiprights fheremployer. n identification ithwomen'srightsnan abstract ensedoesnotnecessarilyntail challenge o thetraditionalsexual division f abor,withwomenresponsible or heperformancefdomestic uties ndprivate hild are nthehome. nfact,nthe xampleofthe domesticplacement ndustry,here s a decided deologicalrein-forcementfthatdivision f labor.Regardless fthepersonalpreferencesftheagency wners, hemar-ket nwhich he ndustry perates sdependent pontheprivatizationfdomesticwork. Not all domesticcare workers re women. With thegrowingdemand for live-in child care, however,there s a definitemarket-bias owardtheplacement f women n these obs. Indeed,thevastmajority-an estimated 8 percent fforeign omesticworkers nCanada-are women (Departmentof Employment nd Immigration1989, 34). The same conditions fpovertyndunemploymenthat om-pelThirdWorldwomento leaveeverythingehind nd acceptthe mostundesirableworking onditions nd wages available inNorthAmericaalso compelThirdWorld men to seek the same means of escapingex-treme overty. genciesndicate, owever, hat he ob marketnprivatechildcare is not considered uitableformen. This affects hescreeningprocess fapplicants rom heoutset.One agency utbluntly case thatis widely choed: I don't interviewmales,though geta lot ofcalls. Ican'tplacemales. 33

Therearetwoexplanations ffered or he nabilityo placemales nin-home are. The firsts thatNorth American amilies re particularlynervous bout thethreat f male nanny buse of children.One agent,whoestimateshatperhaps1 percent f all thesuccessful lacementsremale,noted thesuspicion mployers xpressregardingmale applicants:There re lots of maleapplicantswho want to come to Canada to workas domestics.Butpeople are usuallymore hesitant o hire menas op-posed to femalenannies.There aremoremale nannies nEurope. Theycall them mannies.' 34 Another lacement gentoffered second ex-planation:thatwomenare simplynaturally etter uitedthan men for

33 Ibid.34Agency, interviewyAbigail akan, ctober 5,1991.324 SIGNS Winter 1995



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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulischild-carework. This view reflects nd perpetuateshe broadergenderstereotypingn the business tself. I've placedtwo men since 've been nthebusiness, ne from reland, he otherfromHong Kong. The HongKong boywas good,butone of thechildren, babyhe was looking fter,got very ll,a brain tumor t six months.He couldn'tcope with t. It'shardfor he men fthere's sicknessnthefamily. orwomen,females,normally heirmaternal nstinctswill kick in. Those instinctswill getthem hroughhat.Men don't have these. 35The sexist tereotypingf domestic abor extendsbeyond hespecifictask of child care, however.Because the placement gents dependonliterallyelling heir roduct o theemployer, hey resent class-specificview offreeing omenfrom heburden f domestic esponsibilities.neagent developed n detail the mageof whatmaking successful lace-ment ould mean for heprospective oman client: You havesomethingmore thanmoney,you have your peace of mind. You have a 'wife' athome.I havemany,manyemployerswho sayto me, What I need is awife.' magine ominghome at theend of a workday,nd all the tress soff.The kids arehappy, he aundrys washed and folded,youcan smellthe chicken ooking n the oven. The girlsdon't want to stickaroundwithyouandyourhusband t theendof theirworkday, o youhave allthetime loneyouwant.They tayforhalf nhour, r anhour, ndtheycommunicate bout thekids,and then hey eave to their oom andyouare homewithyourkids. tgivesyou peaceof mind nd itgivesyou yourequilibrium. here s no suchthing s a superwoman. 36Because the ndustrys largely omposedof smallbusinesses hat re-quireminimal apital investment r overhead, t is not uncommonfordomesticplacement genciesto have been started yformer r currentemployers f in-home aregivers. he class identificationetweentheagency nd theemployer s professionalworkingwomen who hiredo-mestics, herefore, as an instrumentalomponent.One agent pridedherself n helping o improve hereputation f the ndustry yhelpingformer lientsestablish heirown agencies.Another gentdecided tostart business f her own after avingbeen caught na scam with nunscrupulousgency ; I knew whatI wanted. said, I want a wife.'was often way on business.And I thought, can do this, nd I can doitclean, can do itright. o I started heagency. 37Justas beingof the same genderas the vast majority f in-homedomesticworkersdoes not challenge hegenderbias of theplacementagency ndustry,either oes it appear thatethnic nd racial identifica-tionamongwomenof color agencyownerswithdomesticworkers ff-

35 Agency, interviewyAbigail akan nd DaivaStasiulis, ay21, 1992.36 Agency , interviewyAbigail akan,October ,1991.37 Agency, interviewyAbigail akan,October3,1991.Winter 1995 SIGNS 325



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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHsetsthetendencyowardracialstereotyping. hile t s difficultoknowwhatpercentage fplacement gencyowners n Canada are people ofcolor,of thehigh-profileublic representativesf the business he num-ber s very mall.However,maintaining successful usiness hat atersto employersendsto compela raciallybiased business rientation,e-gardless fthe olor ofthe gency wner. he low status fpaiddomesticwork, nd the structuralnequities nd systemicacism hatdrive mmi-grant nd visibleminority omentoaccept uchwork, olor-codes,s itwere, he market f the ndustry.ne agency wnerwho was herself nimmigrantndicated ome identification iththeexperiences fforeigndomestics: I understandwhat it's like living n one room withyourwholefamily.t takes lot of time ogetestablished. 38 onetheless,hegeneralperception f this ameagency wner s thatthoseforeign an-nieswho seekgood qualityworkingndliving onditions rwagesabovethelegalminimum old unrealisticxpectations: I advisemynanniesthat hey anget good job thesedays,buttheymayhave tocompromiseon thesalaryor the ocation. For example, heymayhave to takea jobin thesuburbsforminimumwage.... For some of thesegirls, thinktheir xpectationsre muchtoo high.The girlsmilk hesystem ereforall it'sworth.Theyareemployednnicehomes, ometimes amilies hatareverywell-to-do. hegirlswantto have a really iceplacetolive n. 39Anothergency wnerwho is ofFilipino rigin nd whose business nlyplacesFilipino omesticswas indistinguishablerom ther genciesntheracialized attitudedisplayedtoward her applicants: We don't like tobring hemdirectlyrom hePhilippines.fthey omedirectly ere,youhaveto,well,babysit hem.Eventhough hey re thesamemerchandise,so to speak,theyhaven'tblendedyet. t's betterftheyhave worked nEuropeor Hong Kong or Singapore. 40 houghtheplacements f thisbusiness re all Filipino, heclients reoverwhelminglyhiteCanadians.The agencyhas developed loyalclientele y providing ilipinodomes-tics forwhite familieswho request hem. We ask ourclients,what istheir reference.here s no point ngiving Filipinounlesstheywantone. We getno requestsforWest ndians.My clientswill say, Please,don't sendme someonefrom he slands.Pleasegiveme a Filipino.'AndI say, We have thick ccents,you know.'Although heymaybe com-fortablenEnglish, don't think heEnglish rainingnthePhilippinessenough. 41At their1991 conference,he U.S.-basedInternational annyAsso-ciationexplicitly ddressed ssues of race and color in the placement

38 AgencyD, interviewy AbigailBakan,October15, 1991.39 bid.40 AgencyK, interviewy AbigailBakan,October6, 1992.41 Ibid.




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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisagency ndustry. workshop ntitledWorkingwithFamilies nd Nan-nies of Different olors and Cultures was led bytwo co-ownersof adomestic lacement gency.Both wereAfrican-Americanomen,moth-ers of small children, nd employers f fulltime ive-innannies. Withnotable elf-assurance,he gency wnerspresentedhecase for n open,up front pproachto issuesof both raceand racism nd insisted hatbusinessobjectiveshad to come first. he following dvice to fellowagencieswas included nthepresentationhatopenedtheworkshop ndis worth uoting t length:

We'renotexperts,nd wewon't tellyouhow torunyourbusiness.Ithas to work foryouandyour ommunity....We ask ournannyapplicants ftheyhaveanycultural r racialpreferencesegardingwheretheywantto work.Typically hey ayno. But thenwe askthem: Do youknow how to takecareof a six-year-oldlackgirl'shair? You knowyoucan't ustwash itand blowdry t. .. Thereare some areas, like South Boston,whereyou wouldn'tplace ablacknanny.Where ould she walkthatbaby? worked nBostonfor neyear s a bank teller. couldn'tbelievewhateasymoney hisis, becauseno clientswould ever come inmy ine.Butknowing his,don't oseyourmoney. won't closemybusi-ness to lilywhitefamilies-just adjustto them nd place a whitenanny... Likethenannies,we ask ourfamiliesf hey ave a racialpreference.hey ypicallyayno. Thenwesay,wehavewhite, lack,Asian,and Hispanicnannies.Thenthey onsider, nd saythis ndthat.Not everyonegreeswithbeing hisup front.Wehad a blackwomanagent n our officewho quitbecause ofthispractice.42The classperspectivefagency wners s also reflectedntheir ppar-entwidespread uspicionofdomesticworkers' dvocacy organizations.

In Toronto, NTERCEDE is one such organization hat has arousedconsiderable oncern mongdomestic lacement gencies.According ooneagency wner, INTERCEDE isbasically ike union, ndtheywanttoprotect omesticworkers' ights.... Whattheywantto do isfine, uttheydon't do it therightway.... They'lltellyou all kindsof horrorstories, nd you don'tgetthe other ide of thestory. herehave beenemployers' genciesand employerswho want to help,butthey'll hunthem.NTERCEDE ismostly ilipinogirls.But t's usttheradicalswhoarebehind t.Theyhaveworkshops hat recompletely egative. hey'lldo chantsand things heymakeup. It'sreally ustlikea union. 43An-42 Workshop, WorkingwithFamilies nd Nanniesof Differentolors and Cul-tures, NA sixth nnualconference, allas, June 9, 1991.43Agency , nterviewy AbigailBakan,November6, 1991.




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHother gency hared hisview: INTERCEDE is almost ikea union. t'sverymilitant,nd it'sgiving heFilipinonannies bad name.... INTER-CEDE willtell them: Don't work forone minute fter :00 P.M. fyouwork one minutemoreyou are being bused.' 44The Canadian Coalition for n-Home Child and DomesticCare, inwhichplacement gencyowners re strongly epresented,as explicitlychallengedNTERCEDE's argumenthat ompulsoryive-inwork s ex-ploitive nd should be eliminated rom heforeign omesticworker eg-islation Hernandez 1987; Henry1991). In January1992, legislativechangesto theforeign omesticprogram onfirmedhetwo-year om-pulsoryive-in equirement.urther,herevised awraised he riteria oreligibilityrom recommended ne yearof related xperience o a re-quiredCanadian Grade 12 equivalency s well as sixmonths f super-visedtrainingna care-givingield. NTERCEDE joineddomestic dvo-cacy groups from across the countryin protesting he changedregulations.The organizations epresentinghe interests f domesticworkers rguedthatthe newpolicywould discriminategainstwomenfromThird World countrieswhere such educationalopportunitiesremore imited han nEuropeand where raining rogramsncare-givingoccupationsdo not exist.45Notably, nJuly1993 theLiberal federalgovernmentnnouncedplansto eliminatehe ix-monthraining equire-mentbut to retain he Grade 12 equivalency. hose who do not havetrainingwill be required o have twelvemonthsof experiencenstead[Young1994, 21].)Incontrast o theprotests ydomestic dvocacygroups, heCanadiancoalitionwelcomed he ncreased estrictions,articularlyheGrade 12equivalency equirement, aintaininghat twould improve hequalityof in-home hildcareDoyle 1992).46 n adopting hisposition, he coa-lition laced tself n theother ide notonlyof domestic ightsdvocatesbut also of the government'swn appointedStandingCommittee nLabour,EmploymentndImmigration.47he modelfor henewtrainingentranceriteria, hich ritics f thenew aw maintainsbeing mplicitlyfavored,sthe British anny rainingollege.Domesticworkers nteringCanada with an NNEB diploma normally o not do houseworkandusuallyreceivehigherwages forproviding n-home hild care. Uponlearning f the revisedCanadian legislation, owever, he assistantdi-rector f theNNEB inBritainwas convinced hat ix months ftraining

44 AgencyD, interviewyAbigailBakan, ctober 5,1991.45CanadianAdvisory ouncil on the StatusofWomen,meetingwithdomesticworkergroupsand government epresentativeso discussthe newregulationsf thefor-eigndomesticworkerpolicy FDM/LCP),February , 1992, Ottawa.46See also Canadian Coalition for n-HomeChild and Domestic Care 1992a, 1992b.47Sub-Committeen Immigration992. The editors f a majornationaldailyalsodisapproved f the restrictionsTorontoStar1992).328 SIGNS Winter 1995



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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiuliswas inadequateto meet heneedsofqualitynanny raining.hefurtherquestioned hequalificationsf Canadian visaofficers,ntrainednpro-fessional hildcare,to assess thequalityand standards f thetrainingreceived.48While the 1992 policychangesexpressed n the Live-InCaregiverProgram re consistentwithrecommendationsmade by theCanadianCoalitionfor n-HomeChild and DomesticCare, tcannotbe concludedthat all agencies n Canada wererepresentedn thispolicydecision.49Indeed, he argepool ofpotential pplicants nder heLCP whodo notqualifyunderthenewregulationswill be undergreater ressure o by-pass official hannels nd officialgencies.mmigrant omenonvisitor'svisas,or withno officialmmigrationtatus, epresent loss ofbusinessrevenue orofficial,egisteredgencies.The perspective f theCanadian coalitionon increased raining e-quirements orforeign omestics, owever, s consistentwiththe classinterests f placement gencies, nsofar s theirrole in screening ndselecting pplicants ould potentially e enhanced s a result fa morerestrictiveolicy.Foremployersoncernedwithmeetinghenewcondi-tions,hiring domestic hrough professional omestic lacement gentwould ensure hatthemorestringentequirementsre met.Further,hecommitmentn thepartoftheCanadian Coalitionfor n-HomeChildand DomesticCare to thecompulsoryive-in equirements clearly on-sonant with thegeneral nterests f theprivatedomesticplacementn-dustry.tisprimarilyhe ive-in ondition hatmakestheworkunattrac-tiveto nonimmigrantabor; it is also this conditionthatrenders heapplicants, s noncitizens,ependent nprivate gents o secure n offerofemployments a condition or ntryntothecountry. atekeepers,notherwords,are only necessaryfthegatesare difficulto open.

Conclusion: aid household abor, atekeepers,ndcitizenshipThe low social status nd remunerationnd theharshworking on-ditionsof household work have meant that advanced stateshave longdrawnon reserve ools of femaleaborfrombroadtofill hecontinuingneed for domesticworkers.Withinany givenFirstWorld state,andwithin nygivenhistoricalra,certain ationalities rethnic roupshave48Maureenmith,nterviewyAbigail akan, uly 6,1992.49 Significantly,t thehearingsfthe tandingommitteenLabour, mploymentand mmigrationnto hangesotheForeignomesticrogram,spokespersonor heBritisholumbia annyAgencies lliancexpresseder oncernhat the resentschools,lmostxclusivelyased nCaucasian ountriesmightot] ealisticallybeableto]providehenumberfnanniesndthevarietyf kills equired yCanadian ami-lies. Thiswitnesslsoarguedhat on-the-jobxperience,atherhan ormalraining,isthemostmportantualificationnchild are Rogers 992,6-7).




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Bakan and Stasiulis MAKING THE MATCHtended to predominate mong foreign omestics.As one turn-of-the-centurybserver utthecase, household ervice rewthedespisedraceto the despised calling (Clark-Lewis 1987, 197). The common-senseexplanationsforsuch shifts end to focus on characteristicsf the re-spective acial/ethnicroupsofwomenthemselves nd the fit f thesecharacteristics ith hesocially onstructed eeds ofemployingamilies.While there re manyfactors ccounting or the shiftsn racial/ethnicprofiles fmigrant omesticworkers,t s clearthatthe active nterven-tionof several ypes fagents, rgatekeepers,snecessaryo accomplishsuchshifts.The processbywhichThird Worldmigrantwomen become live-indomesticworkersfor familiesn FirstWorldstateselevatestheimpor-tanceoftheprivate omestic lacement ndustrynrenderinghematch.The gatekeeping unction nvolves continuing rocessof locking ndunlocking oors in a complex abyrinthhat s dependent n a globalsystemf uneven taterelationships.he dependencyfthe client n anindividual lacement gent s crucialto thesuccessofthe business.Thedependency f theapplicanton thesame individualplacement gent ssimilarly ecessaryo complete he transaction. he commodificationfimmigrant omenworkers, f themerchandise, s one agentcitedabovetermedhem,sreflectivefthe lass nterestsfthe gency wnersthatpredominatenthismarket-sensitivendustry.o5Domesticplacement genciesdrawreadily rom n arsenalofraciallyand ethnically pecific magesof women to recruit ertaingroupsofwomenfor ive-in are and to bar or restrict heentry f others.Thegenealogy feach specific acialized, endered iscourse s complexandmultifaceted. hilerelativelyurable, ach imagecan be alteredunderconditions hatproducebehaviorthatclasheswiththeimage-for in-stance,when the shine comes off one ethnicgroupof nannies whochallenge he servile nd indentured onditionof theforeign omesticworkerprogram.The structure fprivatizedive-in omestic ervicewithin hefamilyunit imposes an inherent nequalitybetween the citizen/employer/landlord on one side and thenoncitizen/employee/tenantn theother.The distancebetween he citizen nd noncitizen,s theseconcepts reemployed ere,pertains otmerelyo legal-juridicalifferencesninclu-sion or exclusion from fficial itizenshiptatus.Rather, hisdistancealso reflects generalized pectrum funequalrelations erpetuatednthepractices nd ideologiesof state nd civilsociety.Whatis uniqueinthecondition flive-in omestic ervice f mmigrant omen,however,is the stark xposureof what Colen calls the asymmetricalocial rela-tionsofhouseholdwork : Assigned owomenas an extension f child-

50AgencyK, interviewy AbigailBakan,October6, 1992.330 SIGNS Winter 1995



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MAKING THE MATCH Bakan and Stasiulisbearing apacity,ousehold ork snaturalized,rivialized,nd consid-ered nskilled.t sfurtherevalueds itpasses cross lass, ace, thnic,ormigrationines rom omenwhochoosenot odoitto otherwomenwhoperformt nemployers'ouseholds 1990,100-101).Oneofthekey eaturesoverningelationsfcontemporaryive-inomestic orkis theunequal itizenshiptatuses etweensually hite,emale,rofes-sional mployersndpredominantlymmigranthirdWorld emalem-ployees. acialized ndgendereddeologiesloakandmystifyheun-equalcitizenshipates hat re nstitutionalizedithinuch rogramsstheLCP and whosehingesre oiledbythework fgatekeepers.heyconceal he act hat he oreignomesticrogramffersertainainsncitizenshipightsor negroup fwomen-professionalnd most ftenwhite-atthe xpense fanother-migrantomen f color.Therace- ndclass-specificharacterf deologiesnd magesffemi-ninity,omesticity,nd female exuality as beenemphasizedn thegrowthf antiracisteministcholarshipverrecent ears.As in thepolarized et nterdependentmages f true white)womanhoodndblackwomanhoodntheantebellumouth nalyzed yHazel Carby(1989),the racializedmages f women re often ependentn eachother,xistingnoppositionndantagonisms well s inhierarchy.tthe sametime, iven hecomplexhistorical erivationf themanyracial/ethnicmages fwomen,tereotypesarelyxist implys binarypolesofopposition. s witnessednthe outinese of tereotypesntheworkof domestic lacementgencies, aciallynd culturallypecificnotions ffemininitylay nimportantole nracializinggivenabormarket. atekeepers,oth ublicndprivate,re mportantonveyersfdifferentialacial/ethnicmages fwomen ndplay key ole nallocat-ing hosewith ertainssignedndstereotypedharacteristicsntodes-ignated ccupationsnd attendantitizenshiptatuses.Viewing itizenshiplobally,nd as a phenomenonhatdrawsonracial/ethnic,ender,ndclassdistinctions,urtherddresses growingconcernwithinontemporaryeministiterature-withhepolitics fdifferencen

Making the Match. Domestic Placement Agencies and the Racialization of Women's Household Work

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