Aesthetic labour and diversity on the shopfloor: the experiences of women workers in fashion retail
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
ISSN: 2040-7149
Article publication date: 17 January 2023
Issue publication date: 24 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the workplace experiences of aesthetic labour among racially diverse frontline women workers in a fashion retail store.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study is based on an ethnographic study, drawing on findings from participant observation and interviews with frontline workers at a fashion retail store in the UK.
Findings
This paper explores how the embodiments of aesthetic labour are perpetually produced and commodified through the discipline of management in a fashion retail store. It challenges the notion of phenotypical Whiteness as the beauty standard within fashion retail and demonstrates how embodiments differ according to race. While White women are continuously scrutinised by their appearance, the aesthetic demands for women of colour tend to focus on speech and racialised bodies to provide “authentically” exotic experiences for customers. Additionally, this study highlights how the mobilisation of aesthetic labour can create work humiliation and work alienation.
Research limitations/implications
Despite this study being based on an ethnographic study at one British fashion retailer, this paper seeks to give voices to an underrepresented group by exploring the lived experiences of racially diverse women workers.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the intersection between aesthetic labour and race from an embodiment perspective, exploring the workplace experiences of racially diverse women workers in fashion retail and how their various forms of embodiment are racialised and commodified.
Keywords
Citation
Oluyadi, L.O. and Dai, W. (2023), "Aesthetic labour and diversity on the shopfloor: the experiences of women workers in fashion retail", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 42 No. 6, pp. 709-722. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-10-2021-0257
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited