Domestica, Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence by: Ana Plasencia

In the book Domestica, Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence, by Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo the topic of the domestic worker in the United States. A domestic worker as defined by Wikipedia is someone who works within the employer’s household. Throughout the entire book Sotelo zeros in on the feelings of both parties involved in domestic work, the employer and the employee. The type of domestic work that is described in the book is housekeeping and being the nanny and the race focused on is Latino immigrants.
The nanny/housekeeping persona is stereotyped as a Latina immigrant because usually these are the type of jobs that these women take on in their pursuit to find a better future for themselves and their families. This type of job is not an easy one to define at times. For example, what are the hours for the nanny/housekeeper? What is light housekeeping? What is involved in caring for the children? Many of these questions have to be defined by the employer in order to set an agreement. This agreement can sometimes be difficult because some employers need the employee to be very flexible with their time and the standards are set differently with every house the employee works in. According to some employers mentioned in Sotelo’s book, the ideal nanny/housekeeper is someone who takes initiative and gets work done before the employer tells them it needs to be done. While this sounds like a reasonable request the nanny/housekeepers argue that it is not fair for employers to expect that because then they end up overworking and the employer might be unhappy with what they see done. By analyzing both sides, the observation made can be that if someone decides they want to hire a nanny/housekeeper it is crucial to establish a good way to communicate so that way the nanny/housekeeper knows what needs to be done and also the nanny/housekeeper is not overworked.
Sotelo also points out that according to some domestic workers, their agreements made as to their schedule is not always followed. Some live in nannies, nannies that live in the actual home of the employer, pointed out that the employer will take advantage of the fact that the nanny is so reachable. There were times when the employer would come home and fix himself/herself a drink and leave the nanny with the kids. This is an example of overworking with no pay increase. The nanny/housekeeper may have their set hours but often, the hours are not followed and the employee is stuck overworking because they may be desperate to find a job or their migrant status instills a spirit of fear that does not allow them to fight for this. I remember an instance where there was a domestic workers requesting more pay because of the work being done. The employer responded negatively, sarcastically daring the employee to go to the police to fight for the injustice and then reminding her that she was an illegal immigrant and could do nothing about the unfair treatment.

Employee/employer relations are a huge part of making this type of occupation a success if both are happy there is a good work ethic. Part of this relationship is establishing a sense of respect for the nanny with the children. If the employer does not show respect for the nanny the children pick up on that and tend to misbehave with the nanny. An example Sotelo gives is an instance where the nanny is giving a child a bath; the parents said that the child had to be in bed by nine o clock and the hour was approaching but the child refuses to get out of the bath tub so the nanny threatens to pour cold water on the child. This results in the child screaming, catching the attention of the mother. She rushes in and after hearing what happened sides with the child and yells at the nanny. This later results in the child disrespecting the nanny. The mother siding with the child showed the child that it is okay to break rules given by the nanny and loses respect little by little. It is important for the nanny, as Sotelo states, to have the respect from the child because nannies are part of the developmental process; they play a role in raising the children.
Lastly, nannies and employers need to define the way that the child is going to be raised. This includes the food they eat, the activities they do and also the way they are to be reprimanded for misbehaving. Some of the Latina nannies were awed by the way the ‘Americanas’ corrected the children; they were given time outs and the parents also had discussions with them and then there was the concept of grounding. I can relate to this amazement because I am Mexican and my parents did not raise me with the concepts of time out; the traditional Hispanic values of behavioral correction just do not include time outs. Some nannies embraced this new form of behavioral correction because they found that if it was kept consistent the child would obey. Some chose to reprimand the children as the parents did simply because they felt that they should stay consistent to what the parents did. Whichever the case may be it is important to maintain a form of consistency with the children so that they do not get confused and learn to obey.
To sum up, the book Domestica, Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence, makes important points as to the treatment of domestic workers and the relationships that domestic workers should have with their employers. If the employer/employee relationship is not healthy, then it makes it more difficult to come to an agreement for every aspect of the job. It is true that no matter what the case may be, the employer always has the upper hand because they are supplying the pay, but the concerns of the employee should be discussed in order for the job to be done correctly.