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Rethinking New Womanhood pp 123–146Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Nepalese (New) Women Workers in the Hotel Industry: Exploring Women’s Work and Respectability

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Abstract

This chapter uses qualitative data to explore the experiential accounts of women workers in the hotel industry in Nepal as they perform and resist gendered work, aesthetic and sexualised labour. Findings illustrate that management has a role to play in the way femininity is produced; management expects and controls women’s work, aesthetic and sartorial practices and performances of labour through organisational codes of conduct. However, as a consequence of trade union, the presumably new power structure, women appear to be engaged in resisting and negotiating with the organisational codes of conduct. In the Nepalese context where growth of tourism industry is instrumental in the development of the country, could this indicate the emergence of ‘new’ women workers within the hotel industry?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I explored how women were doing their work in the hotel industry. I limit the use of the term ‘performance’ to mean ‘doing’ and use the terms interchangeably throughout the chapter. I mention this to avoid confusion with the meaning of performance as performativity, which is not something I examine.

  2. 2.

    Throughout the chapter, unless otherwise specified, I use the term sexualised to mean (hetero)sexualised in the case of hotels, resorts and casinos in Nepal. I came to understand that the context in which gendered work took place in these establishments was guided with notions of heterosexuality as the norm. Therefore, when I say there is sexualised labour I mean there is (hetero)sexualised labour in these establishments.

  3. 3.

    In sample establishments, there were three major trade unions: All Nepal Hotel and Restaurant Workers’ Union (ANHRWU) affiliated to United Communist Part of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M); Nepal Independent Hotel, Casino and Restaurant Workers Union (NIHCRWU) affiliated to Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist party (CPN-UML); and Nepal Tourism and Hotel Workers Union (NTHWU) affiliated to Nepali Congress (NC).

  4. 4.

    The Hotel Yak and Yeti, one of the five-star hotels in Kathmandu, was closed for almost eight months (February–August 2006) as the trade unions (ANHRWU and NIHCRWU) demands were not met.

  5. 5.

    In service work, particularly the hotel, resort and casino sectors, it is common to hear the terms front office and back office. Front office departments have high level of customer interaction such as reception, sales and marketing, restaurants within food and beverage, security and so on. Back office departments often located at the rear of the premises where entry is restricted to staff include human resources, administration, finance, housekeeping, laundry and so on.

  6. 6.

    National costume for women includes blouses and saris. A sari is normally a 5 or 5.5 metres long cloth wrapped around the waist and over one shoulder. Debate exists on whether the present national costume represents the diverse ethnic costumes of the country’s different groups.

  7. 7.

    National costume for men includes daura-suruwal, topi and a Western style of waistcoat and a jacket. The daura is a closed-neck shirt with five pleats and eight strings that serve to tie it around the body. The suruwal are fitted trousers made from the same material as the daura. The topi is a Nepali cap, with its peak offset from the centre giving it a slightly lopsided look, which completes the outfit.

  8. 8.

    Closed shop refers to a place of work where all employees must belong to an agreed trade union.

  9. 9.

    According to Liechty (2005), the rise in number of prostitutes in Kathmandu took place alongside the heavy concentration of restaurants, hotels and lodges, which were new forms of public space for the rising urban middle-class population.

  10. 10.

    Traditional Hindu married women wear the symbolic potay (necklace made of beads) and sindhur (vermillion in the hair parting) that signifies and portrays their married status.

  11. 11.

    Teej is a Hindu festival celebrated by women, wherein they dress in their finest attire and decorate themselves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Enterprise for Management, Economic Reform and Gender Equality, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Mona Shrestha Adhikari

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  1. Mona Shrestha Adhikari
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Nazia Hussein

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Adhikari, M.S. (2018). Nepalese (New) Women Workers in the Hotel Industry: Exploring Women’s Work and Respectability. In: Hussein, N. (eds) Rethinking New Womanhood. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67900-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67900-6_6

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