How is gender constructed through social interactions in the shops of Hindley street, and how much

control do we really have over already established gender notions in the hospitality industry?

It is important to note that gender and sex are two different social constructs. While sex refers to the biological
genitalia differences in men and women, the term gender is defined in sociology as socially constructed terms of
male and female that do not necessarily correlate with one’s biological sex (West and Zimmerman, 1987) . In
this essay, I will be looking into social interactions between people on Hindley street, and how it may portray
society’s view on gender roles behind the interactions. The hospitality industry is commonly associated with
sociable employees, however there is a clear division of labour between men and women as observed in most
establishments we observed. In this essay I will be using structure and agency as a theory to establish a
connection between the evidence gathered on the excursion.

Structure and agency are key concepts in sociological theory. Structure is often referred to as patterned
arrangements or an invisible set of rules that constrict an individual’s choice and freedom. Emile Durkheim was
convinced that there were structured rules in the emotions that are general throughout a collective (Stones,
2015). Social structures can also be seen as ‘a system of patterned relationships of actors in their capacity as
playing roles relative to one another’ (Parsons, 1945). The ‘structuration theory’ outlines the relationship
between individual people and the social structures that confine us. This theory is based upon the idea that
individuals do not have much of an option with their choices (Lamsal, 2012). In structuration theory, human
actors reinforce the use of social structures with made up rules and social norms (Mukunda Lamsal). Agency
however, as many experts have described as everything that structure was not. Agency is associated with self
interest and freedom. It is based upon liberal humanism and how individuals are free to make their own choices
independently. In contrast to structure, agency is the ability that people possess to make choices for themselves.
Whilst fighting tradition, individual choices and experience shape agency in a way that allows human beings to
form their own circumstances (Emirbayer and Mische, 1998).

Whilst observing day time interactions on Hindley street, I focused on those working in the hospitality industry,
particularly cafe employees. Amongst all of the food establishments we visited, there was an undeniable
presence of a female server in every single establishment. This leads me to believe that employers tend to have
female staff positioned in front of house roles. Women that pursue careers in hospitality environments often
have their lives structured around men’s wishes. This is supported by the observation where every single female
server that we came across in our excursion had varying amounts of make-up on, their nails immaculately cut
and their hair tied back neatly, whereas the men that we came across had put little to no effort in their
appearance. This can be tied back to the age old belief that women have to always appear prim and proper and
have an obligation to make themselves look appealing to men. Love Stephy, a quaint cafe along the street had 2
employees, a male and a female.We noticed a degree of hospitality from the female worker that could not be
said for the male worker. The female worker made small talk with us and was overall more genial, whereas the
male worker remained behind the counter. Another establishment we visited was Food Lore, this one had three
employees that were all female. Within the three employees working at Food Lore, the older woman, possibly in
her middle ages, was working as the barista whilst the two younger females were in front of house staff.
Drawing upon feminist theory, society is structured upon male interests (Apter and Garnsey, 1994). This is
clearly shown in establishments across hindley street where female employees are more likely to put more effort
into their appearance and how they are represented, (eg. have trimmed nails, their hair tied back, makeup). In a
research conducted, it was reported that hospitality positions such as customer service, cleaning and jobs with
less responsibility were dominated by women, in comparison to high maintenance jobs such as the back of
house positions were taken by men (Campos-Soria, Marchante-Mera and Ropero-García, 2011). This ties back
to the social structure of how society is shaped. It could be argued that this idea of women being the face of
customer service is related to how women used to serve men as housewives, maids and other lowly positions
therefore reproducing this idea into contemporary society. This recurrent pattern of gender segregation in jobs as
common as those in hospitality is still prevalent to this day. Gender is not something that we can brush past, it is
something people do much more commonly than we are aware of, having to adhere to the social structures of
gender cannot be looked past as something unchangeable (West and Zimmerman, 1987). When we conform to
women only having the limited option to work as a low maintenance worker we are conforming to the structure
already placed upon society. The representations of men on hindley street food establishments in comparison
were seen as the people who worked in the kitchen or the people operating the more complicated machinery.
Gender structures go beyond just shaping ourselves, even as we interact with another person there are
underlying expectations of our gender and whether we meet them (Barbara Risman). This expectation tends to
give men more control of power in society.

In conclusion, it is clear from the evidence on Hindley Street establishments that society still operates under
certain social structures although not as visible to an unkeen eye. These establishments use gender to limit the
employment choices for women and by doing so they are appealing to the control of men and garnering more
consumers because of it. It was interesting to look at the more non visible aspects of gender on Hindley Street
through the people working in normal cafes and stores instead of looking at the more obvious choices of the
many strip clubs and bars present. Through the growing number of feminist and allies, I hope to see a change in
agency for women and the employment prospects that have looked over them.
Stones, R., 2015. Structure and Agency. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology,.

Parsons, T. 1945 The present position and prospects of systematic theory in sociology, in Essays in Sociological
theory (ed. T. Parsons), Free Press, New York, pp. 212–237.

Lamsal, M., 2012. The Structuration Approach of Anthony Giddens. Himalayan Journal of Sociology and
Anthropology, 5, pp.111-122.

Emirbayer, M. and Mische, A., 1998. What Is Agency?. American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), pp.962-1023.

Apter, T. and Garnsey, E., 1994. Enacting inequality. Women's Studies International Forum, 17(1), pp.19-31.

West, C. and Zimmer, D., 1987. Doing Gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), pp.125-151.

Campos-Soria, J., Marchante-Mera, A. and Ropero-García, M., 2011. Patterns of occupational segregation by
gender in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(1), pp.91-102.