Gender performance : a case study of Singaporean female service workers situated in foreign worker’s dormitories.

This study provides an alternative argument against most research grounded in gender and service work. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews, I extend the theories of gender performance (Butler, 1990), intersectionality of social factors (Collins, 1998) and impression management (Goffman, 1959) in providing examples of subversion of gender roles. The discussion of females in service work is organized around three themes that the salesgirls studied i) perform masculinity or femininity according to occasion demands, ii) are empowered by unique conditions enabling such gender performance and, iii) manages their “self” in various ways. By examining the behaviors of the salesgirls and their customers – Bangladeshi male foreign workers, this paper attempts to present these Singaporean female service workers as not the typical “weak and subordinated” females in a job hidden from public view.Bachelor of Art