An important feature o f som e recent ethnographies o f women at work has been their recog nition o f the significance and ce n trality o f the workplace celebration o f the reproductive aspects o f femininity. This aspect too w a s a prominent feature o f workplace culture at GEC . The cele bration o f femininity within the w orkplace has sometimes been understood as both collaboration and opposition to workplace constrain ts. (Pollert, 1981. Westwood 1984) W hile this complex phenomenon has been largely attrib u ted to the responses o f female workers in m ediating and in coping with the more oppressive n atu re of workplace practices, I would like to explore the extent it may also be part o f em ployer strategy in managing women workers. In developing this analysis I do not seek to underm ine its importance as a female worker activity, but to illustrate neglected aspects o f the construction o f femininity in the workplace.
In order to explore this q u estio n further using interview data from m anagem ent personnel, the women concerned and the Loudspeaker. I want to focus on the notion o f a ’w om an’s factory’ and to outline some of the ways in w hich management in particular prom oted a distinctive gen dered view o f work. There are tw o im portant strands to this argument. The first o f these if is that the company at least colluded with th e consolidation o f a distinctive female culture in the work place. This culture was characterised by the celebration o f domesticity, and reproduction, partic ularly through activities connected w ith the themes o f sexuality marriage and child birth. The second strand of my argument is th at this culture was drawn on in the construction o f a gendered job structure, not least in the m anner in which work based skills were constructed as dexterities.
Discussions with the m anagem ent and a survey o f evidence suggests that many o f the jobs at GEC were clearly sex typed. In th is chapter I want to tentatively outline some o f the features involved in this stereotyping. In p artic u la r I want to suggest that aspects o f w om en’s domestic or private roles, such as sexuality o r dom estic dexterities, were drawn on (and even emphasised) to identify certain work as women’s w o rk . Women were em ployed in most o f the manual jobs on
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the shop floor - these included wiring, soldering so m e types o f inspection, and operating the more manual machines in the mechanical sections - and they also did some supervision. The tendency to link women to particular jobs was most obvious in the more labour intensive work such as jobs in assembly and some of the work in the m achine shop sections. Nevertheless this division o f labour was very complex, for as I will try to show throughout the forthcom ing chapters, although the women concerned were (according to m anagem ent's perspective) em ployed for their assumed dexterities, the intricacies and the complexities o f th e work called for other competences too. like some degree o f technical skill, the efficient use o f sm all hand tools in the assembly sections, and the use of measuring gauges in inspection. A sec o n d complication was that despite such stereo typing. women were sometimes employed on m ale jo b s , such as operating larger machines when necessary.
In summary I wish to argue that the image o f th e GEC as a "woman’s factory" was at least partly based on the existence o f a distinctive, gend ered workplace culture. Furthermore the cen trality and the persistent renewal o f this culture involved not only the active participation o f the women workers themselves, but also a variety o f d ire c t or permissive m anagem ent policies and practices; though this did not mean that there w as an y simple consensus between management and workers over identities celebrated in this culture. Finally, I wish to highlight how the notion o f a 'w om an's factory', and some o f the themes and identities associated with this shop floor cul ture, were implicated in the construction and interpretation o f the internal jo b structure at GEC.
I will begin by examining some o f ways fem ininity had an impact on workplace relations. A useful starting point is to consider the way in w h ich management saw the salience o f gender. In an interview with a former supervisor I was told:
"I would say that the women in the factory w ere regarded as separate people altogether. There was a different culture for men. there w as fierce competition, a rat race between the men, they worked hard, competed with each o th er, they fought for prom otion; they worked for promotion. Men competed and saw them selves being promoted, th ere was somewhere for them to go, whereas there was a lower.... w ell the women's world was completely
separate, all they could hope for was being promoted to the level o f chargehand which was called a key girl. To a certain extent the OEC was typical o f w om en's employment any where. Women were expected to concentrate on their lives outside the factory although they were allowed to make this a social life within it. Women workers were not involved in the company in the way male workers were. And o f course m ale workers were com m itted in a way that women were n o t" 1
This is an important comment for it throws light on the way the company saw its workers. The view articulated by this supervisor was typical o f management perspectives on women w ork ers. The com m ent challenges any view that the em ployer is gender blind; rather m anagem ent were very aware of gender, and this influenced m anagem ent's perceptions of worker behaviour, commitment and expectations. Male and female workers were viewed very differently, not least in terms o f work orientation and goals. In this sense men were assum ed to be competitive, geared to promotion, and committed to company goals, and by contrast w om en were perceived to be uncompetitive, prioritizing their personal lives and dom esticity o v er work. Such assumptions were consistent with a job structure characterized by little hierarchy, and encouraged am ong women employees a workplace culture linked to domesticity. Some form er management person nel assumed that many o f the female employees saw the workplace prim arly as the route to m ar riage:
"Well o f course a lot o f women didn't take work seriously, it was a way to marriage. There was an unspoken assumption that the company was a sort o f m arriage brokerage centre, and in view o f the number o f people who got married within the Arm. 1 think that was signiflcant. The GEC kept St M ichael's church in Stoke in business.2
Not only were female workers assumed to see work as a way o f finding a marriage partner, and to prioritize their personal lives, but this perception o f the female worker was one the co m pany fostered. For instance, while women workers were involved in the celebration o f the
1 Interview w ith Mr.B. (b. 1942) (Worked at O EC 1963-1977)
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ritualization o f womanhood from engagements to marriage to child birth, the company actively encouraged this:
"W omen when I was at GEC were encouraged in a way to see th eir work as a social activity, and were certainly discouraged as seeing themselves in com petition to get prom o tion or anything. This is very much epitomized in what is reported in The Loudspeaker, the com pany house journal, and the way women were pictured there, in which a woman had three high points in her life associated with her life outside work; starting with a splendid shindig for her wedding, there were certain rituals about all that, like sew ing flowers on the bride’s co at and so, and then being chased out o f the wiring shop. T h e second high point was again her departure for the first pregnancy which again meant another wonderful send off. And then if her husband was earning enough for her not to w ork, there was again a marvellous goodbye, or as I said before to work part-time meant she could enjoy being a m other and housewife."3
This extract suggests that the managment and the company linked th e jo b structure with wom en's social and economic status, as well as their life cycle. From m anagem ent's perspective wom en's work was seen as an interlude before marriage and childcare, w hen women either left, or became part-tim e workers. Either way the process was seen as the confirm ation o f a particular social and econom ic status, as a 'm arried wom an', when domesticity was assum ed to becom e a central feature o f their lives.
Femininity and Its Rites of Passage in the Workplace
In my discussion with the wom en they conveyed the sense o f an unwritten assumption that issues affecting their personal lives played a crucial role in the everyday culture, custom an d practice o f the workplace. The w om en graphically recall the salience o f their friendships and p e r sonal social life in their experiences o f work. A representative comment from one o f the you n ger women was:
"I stayed in Dunlop six w eeks, and I worked in British Celanese no longer than five m onths, well that w as how it was, you walked out o f one jo b today into another job tomorrow, a n d it was then that I went to the GEC. That was in 1962. I went into the Wiring Shop. I m et a lot o f young people all m y ow n age. boys and girls. Well in the 1960's there was a lo t going on, groups playing, n ew kinds of clothes, makeup and we danced to records. W e went ten pin bowling and dancing. There were the weekends, the birthdays, it was h ilari ous. I loved that side of work. In the dinner hour we danced to records in the company b a ll room”4
The characteristic emphasis o n leisure was quite different from the discussion o f work by older women, but since this was a retrospective account by a woman in her thirties it seems likely that it was a core feature for her generation. Other members o f this age group relate sim ilar experiences:
'T here was o f course em phasis on quality and quantity and they were very strict, and you couldn't stand about and gossip well or leave my job and wander off and have a gossip. B ut it could be done. Well you would pick up your drawing with you and outwardly give the impression that you were discussing some aspects o f the job by pointing to it. meanwhile you say O h Jenny, what a fantastic time I had on Saturday. I met this really great bloke. That kind o f thing, stolen m om ents really. My first job was at GEC. I mean women ju st went there. There were lots o f young people there at the time about my own age. And there 4 Interveiw with S.O. (b.1945) (Worked at OEC 1961- 1974)
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was always something to look forward to. It was wonderful, I mean we had dancing in the ballroom at dinner time. We were all very close and we went out in the evenings and at weekends. You just lived for that. There were birthdays and ’hen parties’ and outings to Blackpool.”*
This comment shows that the com pany encouraged the younger workers to indulge in their leisure activities during recreation periods. Another feature o f this comment is the way it coun terposes some of the aspects o f social interaction about personal lives to the constraints o f the work, as a slightly subversive way o f coping with the alienating features o f work discipline. A nother feature is the central significance o f the theme o f enjoyment o f leisure time. The charac teristic emphasis on leisure may be related to the culture o f youth and its emphasis on enjoyment which appears only to have assumed this form in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.6
For both o f the women I have just quoted the importance of the social networks and activi ties which germinated out o f the work environm ent seems more salient than the experience of work itself. The specific social activities and conditions o f the period helped these women to ’rise above’ the reality o f work, to make this form o f escapism feasible. Nevertheless, the term 'escapism* conceals complexity, for we must not loose sight o f the fact that the women continued to face the realities o f increasingly alienating work.7
A s other studies have noted (particularly W estwood. 1984) such an emphasis on women's personal lives was reflected in the celebration o f engagem ents and marriage, when during work ing hours a party was held and gifts presented to the future bride. On such occasions the com pany also participated, by presenting a gift:
"Well as I said they had their parties at work with everybody there, there were engagement parties, ’hen parties' leaving parties, and the baby table party. Oh yes all that went on. And yes some kind o f gift was often presented to the girl by the super, or whoever."
5 Interview with B.C. (b.1948) (W orked a tO E C 1964-19700
6 See for example the diicuM ion Frith, S. in Sound Effects Y outh. Leisure and the Politic» o f Rock. Chap. 8, esp. p p l82 189.
Kate:"How did the company respond to this, was it not inefficient.”
"W ell yes and no. Everybody cam e to the presentation o f the gift, the superintendent and all. That’s how it was."8
Such celebrations were also a feature o f the recollections o f the women:
"W ell you see we began our Hen Parties at work. It was the day all the presents were brought into work. The particular section would organize a "Bride Table" comprised o f the kind o f gifts suited to a new bride. T ea services, blankets, sheets and so on were purchased and presented by the girls. There would be a visit to the pub at lunchtime, and bottles of w ine taken into work. This was not allowed, but nobody said anything."
W hile another respondent talked about the effect this had on production on such occasions: "W ell you see I d id n 't think work was taken that seriously. T hings were uncontrollable that afternoon. I mean we had bottles o f wine. We were singing and if som eone o f the manage m ent came around and said something there was so much screeching, shouting and yelling. It w as in some ways embarrassing. No work was done." 9
T h is aspect o f the celebration of the rites o f passage of w om anhood challenged management im m ediate interests, in the sense that production was halted, but it would seem that on such occassion the management response was usually muted.
M eanwhile other com m ents suggests that for the woman explains the revelry was merely in preparation for the evening adventure:
"A t the end o f the w orking day the bride was prepared for hom e. She was given an enor m ous paper hat covered in paper flowers to wear together with a coat dressed in the most lurid expressions. Usually a relative o r boyfriend chauffeured the future bride home amid a row dy send off. H owever the evening celebrations were only beginning. Usually the sec tion arranged to meet for a pub crawl and then a visit to a night clu b ." 10
* Interview with Mr.B (b. 1942) (W o tte d at G E C 1963-1977) * ibid
* Interview with R.H . (B. 1943) (W a fted u G EC 1965 196«) 10 Interview with W .O (b. 1944) (W orked * O E C 1961-1972)
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Other women too had sim ilar recollections:
"It was my friend Jan e’s Hen Party. Her Dad was strict. I ’m sure it was supposed to be per missive in those days but it w asn't really. Anyway she had to be "in". Well we m et at seven o clock, o f course after the earlier episode at work. There were about ten o f us alto gether. We went into about six different pubs, the usual ones around town. We had drinks in each one. As the evening progressed we became louder and less steady on our feet. By ten o'clock we were w ell away, and then we set off for the night club. Hen parties were welcomed. We got in a bit cheaper having negotiated a deal with the Bouncer on the door. Then we selected a table to establish ourselves and our presence, brought drinks and then proceeded onto the dance floor. It was common then for girls to dance together in a big cir cle placing our handbags in an inner circle. So we danced around our handbags. We were chatted up by m en and had a really raucous time. However, on such occasions there were casualties. Some had several drinks, or was sick, so sick in fact that it became necessary for