Klasse, etnisitet og kjønn som erfaringer: Om å være vanlig, arbeidsom og anstendig

Abstract

Abstract

The article is concerned with the creation of a subjective understanding of ones own position among working class women. Based on a fieldwork among ethnic Norwegian women who work as supermarket cashiers and cleaners, the author explores the distinctions that are made between women defined as working class and other groups, especially ethnic Norwegian middle-class women and male colleagues from ethnic minorities. It has been claimed that it is more difficult for women to find pride in an identity as working class than it is for men. The reason for this is that working class men are associated with a no-nonsense hard-working masculinity that is considered worthy in the broader society, while working class women are defined through what they lack compared to other groups. The author argues that in focusing on their worth as 'ordinary', 'hard-working' and 'decent' women, it is possible to reformulate a position low in the formal hierarchy in society to a position of recognizable worth. The women formulate this in opposition to middle-class women as mothers and to men from minority backgrounds as workers, and they describe these others as lacking, compared to themselves. The example shows the complexity in the relationship between different processes, such as class, ethnicity and gender, and between objective class position and subjective distinctions.

Keywords: Class, gender, ethnicity, family, work