From immaterial work to the in-corporation of women's work. The case of hotel maids in Los Cabos, Mexico

Abstract

This article aims to understand the production of "the feminine" from work in tourism services. In particular, it analyzes the case of hotel maids who work in Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico. It proposes that the material production of and through the bodies of the workers is central to understand the constitution of subjects with gender. In the first place, it criticizes the idea of immaterial work, showing the in-corporation in the body of female workers of practices and gender discourses associated with this occupation. On the other hand, it considers that the effects of work are mediated by discursive practices. In this sense, it gives an account of the dialectical relations between the discourses of control of work, the hegemonic discourses on the practice of working and the different discourses on the work ethic that are constructed from the diverse experiences of women as chamber maids.