Screams from the Pink Collar Ghetto: Over sensitive? Or insensitive?

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Over sensitive? Or insensitive?

Following is the invitation that was sent out in my organization inviting us to the Xmas party. The party was held last year in the cafeteria of the building and we were all invited to bring our iPods for music. While we always pinch pennies around here - the other branches of our organization have their parties in pubs or outside the organization or have a luncheon.

I was completely offended and annoyed by this invite and am going to boycott the party. Am I over-sensitive and surly? Or are they insensitive? I invite you to weigh in at the comments section...

The Management Team of (MY ORGANIZATION) would like to invite you all for the yearly Christmas Party. But this is not all.. the MT would also like to invite you to join our effort to get ready for the New Year.

How? After five years our office is getting messy, with (empty?) boxes on top of cupboards, old and teared posters, never used shadow archives, and other stuff.
Therefore we feel it is time for a big clean up. We will start this exercise as of 14 o'clock and hope all will join to take out everything that is not useful anymore.
Facilities will place containers on each floor to collect our junk. Around 17.30 our office should be tidy so we can start the Christmas Party, where our caterer will serve drinks and bites in junk-style..

RSVP: Please inform Service point before Friday December 12th if you join the Christmas Party.

Hope to see you all there!
Best wishes,
The Management Team

3 comments:

Anonymous6:11 PM
And to think that at my birthday party last year, I had to offer champagne + tiramisu + live music to get everybody to come.

I would skip the party. Not to make a statement, but because people generally get paid to do jobs like this, and nobody's offering you any money.
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Libby5:14 PM
I'd skip the party, because if I went, I'd hardly be able to keep from talking about how tacky the whole idea is. I think you guys and gals should throw yourselves a separate party--make it a pot luck at someone's apartment and have a great time.
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Jessica1:28 AM
I would skip the party. There's nothing festive about cleaning your building. If they can't afford to hire it out then do it in the new year on a normal work day. Don't disguise it as a festive, fun activity.
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What is a Pink-Collar Ghetto?

Pink Collar Ghetto describes women stuck in certain jobs, mostly low-paying and usually because of their sex. “Pink Collar” denotes historically female jobs like maids, secretaries, waitresses, and nurses. "Ghetto" is where marginalized people are forced to live.

I chose this title for my blog from a book I started to write when I was 22 and working in South Carolina as a bartender (barmaid according to my mother) and a receptionist/ temp. As a feminist, I was worried that I would never break out of the pink-collar ghetto. I read Barbara Kingsolver's book "The Bean Trees" and it inspired me to leave SC and go back to school.

Now I am a feminist humanitarian working on gender-based violence in humanitarian settings. It's been a long way from that pink collar ghetto in South Carolina but I never forget my roots.