Citation

Mills S, Owens B. Work Employ. Soc. 2023; 37(3): 776-793.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, British Sociological Association, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/09500170211045843

PMID

37265819

PMCID

PMC10230591

Abstract

This study examines the relation between customer abuse and aggression, the gender and sexual expression of workers, and labour control in low-wage services. In-depth interviews with 30 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)(1) low-wage service sector workers reveal how customer abuse and aggression works in consort with management strategies to reproduce cis- and heteronormativity. Customer abuse and aggression disciplined worker expressions of non-normative gender and sexual identities, leading to concealment and self-policing. Management was complicit in this dynamic, placing profitability and customer satisfaction over the safety of LGBT workers, only intervening in instances of customer abuse and aggression when it had a limited economic impact. It is posited that customer abuse and aggression is not only a response to unmet expectations emanating from the labour process but is also a mechanism of labour control that disciplines worker behaviour and aesthetics, directly and indirectly, by influencing management prerogatives.

Language: en

Keywords

gender; discrimination; customer abuse; heteronormativity; labour control; labour process theory; LGBT; service sector; transgender