MARKETING HUMANS
“Budget Maids”, “Smart workers”, etc., are shop names in some markets of Singapore. What is available for sale in these shops are the services of young women as housemaids, home nurses, babysitters, etc.
Women from the Philippines are often marketed as “smart” and those from Myanmar as “compliant”. Some of them cradle a baby doll to show how they are skilled in looking after babies. Others push a wheel chair up and down so that customers can see that they can care for the elderly.
Some people see this as human trafficking; others look at is the equivalent of writing up a CV and posting it on a website. Some see little difference between this practice and that of the women in the red-light areas of some cities, displaying their assets and promising hot action. Others think this is a legitimate way to offer oneself for a decent job.
Is it any worse than groups of men congregated at strategic points in so many towns all around the world, waiting for someone to come and hire them for work for the day? On the other hand, are not both these practices demeaning and lowering the self-esteem of those who have no other option to earn their livelihood?
What are we to make of it?
“Budget Maids”, “Smart workers”, etc., are shop names in some markets of Singapore. What is available for sale in these shops are the services of young women as housemaids, home nurses, babysitters, etc.
Women from the Philippines are often marketed as “smart” and those from Myanmar as “compliant”. Some of them cradle a baby doll to show how they are skilled in looking after babies. Others push a wheel chair up and down so that customers can see that they can care for the elderly.
Some people see this as human trafficking; others look at is the equivalent of writing up a CV and posting it on a website. Some see little difference between this practice and that of the women in the red-light areas of some cities, displaying their assets and promising hot action. Others think this is a legitimate way to offer oneself for a decent job.
Is it any worse than groups of men congregated at strategic points in so many towns all around the world, waiting for someone to come and hire them for work for the day? On the other hand, are not both these practices demeaning and lowering the self-esteem of those who have no other option to earn their livelihood?
What are we to make of it?
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