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> >>>----------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>------------------------------ >>>The Globe and Mail, Saturday, June 23, 2001 >>> >>>You wouldn't wish it on a dog >>> In the plush precincts of Los Angeles, every household has its nanny, >>> and every home its dog. Guess which one is better off? As DOUG SAUNDERS >>> reports, Beverly Hills canines lounge in comfort, matching their >>> supermodel and movie-mogul owners perk for perk. It's the human beings >>> who clean up after them - and who care for children, make meals, tend >>> gardens and generally keep these 21st-century lifestyles going - that >>> are treated like animals >>>By Doug Saunders >>> >>> >>>A week in the life The nanny Salary: $200 Rent: $50 Food: >>>$50 Medical: No insurance or coverage Transportation: City >>>bus Amount sent home to El Salvador: $50 or more The >>>dog Boarding: $490 Walking: $200 Food: $50 (incl. >>>treats) Medical: $25 vet fees (when healthy) Grooming: $100 per >>>session Other services available: psychiatrist, masseuse, spa, >>>antidepressants, human sleeping companions Transportation: Car or >>>limo The core of our culture rests in a handful of neighbourhoods >>>along the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. We all know their >>>names: Beverly Hills, Bel Air, the Hollywood Hills, Glendale, Pacific >>>Palisades, Malibu. And we know the handiwork of their residents: Almost >>>all of the cinema and television consumed in North America is made here, >>>transmitting an ever-changing set of ideas about how to eat, drink, >>>dress, fornicate and construct your private life. >>> >>>If you drive through these lush streets today, though, you won't see any >>>of the wealthy residents, famous or otherwise, except through the tinted >>>window of an occasional passing German car. On the sidewalks, you will >>>find only two life forms: Dogs, well-bred, at the hands of professional >>>walkers; and brown-skinned people, either men tending to gardens, pools >>>and houses, or women strolling about with white-skinned infants between >>>rounds of housecleaning. >>> >>>Dogs and domestics: These are the bit parts of prosperity. In this famous >>>quarter of Los Angeles, there is a new domestic balance of power. Rising >>>economic tides have delivered a high-maintenance, domineering kind of >>>pet, and a shrinking world has created a low-cost, highly displaced kind >>>of servant. >>> >>>Nanny-housekeeper wages in L.A. are so low -- $200 (U.S.) a week is >>>fairly standard -- that the better-off nannies often employ nannies of >>>their own. And, of course, they draw no benefits. Their bosses' dogs, on >>>the other hand, enjoy vacations at $70-a-day dog resorts, treats bought >>>from specialty bakeries and generous health care. >>> >>>According to census data, the number of gardeners and domestic workers >>>working in Los Angeles (the North American leader for this type of work) >>>doubled between 1980 and 1990, while the amount Americans spend to coddle >>>and care for their pets has risen to nearly $40-billion. And while most >>>of us have hardly begun to notice the global changes in our own lives, >>>they are experienced profoundly by the lesser members of our households. >>> >>> >>> >>> ROSA >>> >>> Rosa Diaz began her week just after dawn on Tuesday morning. It has >>> been 10 months since she made the journey from El Salvador, a struggling >>> corner of the Third World, to Los Angeles, a florid centre of the First. >>> Each Tuesday morning, it is as if she is making the whole trip over again. >>> >>>She spends her weekends in Pico-Union, a parched neighbourhood in >>>downtown Los Angeles that looks like it has been placed in the wrong >>>continent. Flimsy stucco buildings, no vegetation save the occasional >>>dusty palm. Sidewalks are lined with the trappings of central America: >>>shops selling tortillas and pupusas, communion-dress rental stores, women >>>quietly offering fruit slices and contraband clothing, men in black >>>cowboy hats. In the midst of this, on the third floor of a dirty pink >>>building with small windows, Rosa awakes at 5:30 in the tidy two-room >>>apartment she shares with three other women, only one of whom lives here >>>all week. >>> >>>Rosa is 26, and she has the soft Mayan features and graceful humour >>>common to many Salvadorans. "It's still very strange that I'm doing a job >>>like this," she says in quiet Spanish as she waits for the bus with dozen >>>other women. "I once thought that I would end up having a domestic >>>worker, but now I am one." >>> >>>In San Salvador, her family had once been reasonably comfortable: Her >>>father a factory supervisor, who, before his untimely death in 1996, >>>wanted all four of his children, including his oldest daughter Rosa, to >>>go to university. Instead, like thousands of other Central Americans >>>ravaged by political, economic and natural disasters, she went to >>>America. She has left behind her husband, whom she married a few months >>>before she left; he is waiting to join her when she gets her papers (she >>>has a good chance, since the United States allowed many Salvadoran >>>illegals to get work visas after this year's devastating earthquake). In >>>the 21st century, immigration is more often than not led by women, and >>>domestic jobs have become bottom rung on the immigrant ladder. >>> >>>Rosa has loaded her backpack with the foods that her job doesn't offer: >>>Salvadoran tamales, a tub of rice and vegetables fried in lard, some >>>leftover sweet potatoes that she and her roommates made for lunch with >>>friends on Sunday. She packs an English textbook, a Gabriel Garcia >>>Marquez novel in English, and some magazines devoted to telenovelas,the >>>Spanish soap operas. By 7 a.m., she will have finished the long weekly >>>bus trip to a very different Los Angeles, just inside the imposing gates >>>of Bel Air. Here, surrounded by a jungle of palms, bougainvilleas and >>>bird-of-paradise plants, she waits by a coffee wagon, with a dozen other >>>women from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador, to be picked up >>>by her employer for her week's stay. >>> >>> CUSTER >>> >>> Custer's day begins at 7 a.m. sharp, when he and the other dogs are >>> awakened in their wide, comfortable private pens. Gradually, they >>> saunter into a grassy yard, to the sound of a bubbling fountain, for >>> their morning constitutional. There is a koi pond nearby, teeming with >>> the colourful Japanese fish, and carefully tended flower beds. Dogs are >>> not usually too fussy about scenery, but you can tell they are mellowed >>> by the shady landscaping and rolling valleys here in the Malibu Hills. A >>> few sprawling villas pepper the skyline, and a lot of grassy, open >>> space, filled with horse-riding trails and wilderness. >>> >>>Custer is a golden retriever, one of two owned by Jay Wolpert, a >>>successful Hollywood screenwriter. While Wolpert is away, Custer and his >>>fellow retriever Locksley stay here at the Canyon View Ranch, a canine >>>spa, boarding retreat and training centre that advertises itself as "a >>>country club for dogs." >>> >>>Its owners, Joe Timko and Randy Porter, were TV-industry figures who >>>developed a ken for dog training, and a desire for better canine >>>services. To stay at Canyon View and receive its training sessions, >>>owners of dogs like Custer pay $70 a day, or almost $500 a week. >>> >>>"There was nothing like this available, and people had to put their dogs >>>in noisy places in industrial neighbourhoods," Timko says. "Now, people >>>are trying to copy it, but they're not coming close." >>> >>>When Custer is at home, in the Hollywood Hills, his life is at the centre >>>of the household's activities: meals of gourmet dog food tailored to his >>>delicate digestive system, daily drives along Mulholland Drive to the >>>Laurel Canyon dog park, where the show-business elite give their pets >>>long walks through stunning scenery, often after dressing them in the >>>city's latest dog fashions and grooming them, at considerable expense, at >>>one of the exclusive parlours along Santa Monica Boulevard's dog-care >>>strip. Whenever Wolpert, 59, leaves town for business or vacation, he >>>first makes the hour-long drive deep into the hills to drop off the dogs. >>> >>>Many of Custer's playmates at Canyon View are dogs belonging to show-biz >>>owners, who have led the way in bettering their pets' lives. Custer has >>>probably met Daisy, the Jack Russell terrier belonging to the singer Lou >>>Rawls, and the bouvier des flandres belonging to the actor Christopher >>>Lloyd, who has his dogs picked up and dropped off in a liveried stretch >>>limo. >>> >>>Hollywood figures like to drop by the spa to see the dogs cavorting in >>>plush surroundings. Nobody seems bothered by the price. "It's like >>>getting your kid into a private school," says the comedian Sinbad, whose >>>two pugs are regular guests. >>> >>> >>> >>> ROSA >>> >>> Rosa is a live-in domestic worker, although her employers don't call >>> her that -- like most people with nannies, they wouldn't think of >>> themselves as employers. Most wealthy people don't consider themselves >>> members of the upper class, and don't like to think of servants as >>> servants. She is simply "Rosa, who takes care of the kids," or "the girl >>> who cleans the house." >>> >>>Five days a week, Tuesday to Saturday, Rosa lives in the back bedroom of >>>a five-bedroom Cape Cod-style house belonging to a television executive >>>and his wife, where she does almost all the cleaning and other chores; >>>feeds, bathes and takes care of the daughters, aged 2 and 3; and keeps an >>>eye on the 11-year-old son. The hours are very long, from just after >>>dawn, when the girls awake and the parents leave, to late evening, when >>>she is expected to put the kids to bed and monitor them through the night >>>when the parents are away, as they often are. >>> >>>For this, Rosa is paid $225 a week, up from the $200 she made until >>>March. This is a middling, industry-standard wage in Los Angeles: A few >>>lucky live-ins make as much as $450 or $500 (if they speak English, have >>>immigration papers or own a car), while at least two of the women on >>>Rosa's bus were making $150 a week, a rate that can be found advertised >>>most weeks in the Los Angeles Times. Rosa knows women who started last >>>year at $80 to $100 a week, rates often paid by other Latin Americans who >>>know how desperate their compatriots can be. And even lower salaries have >>>been reported, since there are no longer any real standards for domestic >>>pay. >>> >>>"When you first get here, it sounds like good money," she says. "You have >>>no idea, because even $50 a week would be a very good salary back at >>>home. So you take what you can find." Like most women, she got her job >>>through word-of-mouth contacts, rather than through an agency. Although >>>there are officially labour regulations and a minimum wage, they are >>>almost never observed, as domestic bosses don't realize labour law >>>applies to them. >>> >>>Rosa's wages supposedly include room and board, but this means little: >>>Few houses in L.A., or most modern cities, have separate, private >>>servant's quarters. A separate bathroom (which Rosa has) is common, but >>>kitchens must be shared with the employer family -- usually an awkward >>>situation. Adequate food is rarely provided, and, of course, these >>>live-ins usually have to pay rent for their weekend quarters. (Rosa's >>>share of her rent is $200 a month.) >>> >>>The current wages provide a bare subsistence living, and most domestics, >>>including Rosa, send hundreds of dollars a month back home. These >>>remittances from U.S. emigres, known as migra-dollars, currently total >>>more than $2-billion annually, making them El Salvador's leading form of >>>foreign aid. >>> >>>Troubles in Central America and Mexico have driven down the cost of >>>domestic labour dramatically, to the point that even Americans who >>>consider themselves far from wealthy can afford live-in servants. Los >>>Angeles, the major entry-point city of English North America, is in the >>>forefront here. Observers say that it isn't uncommon nowadays for factory >>>workers in L.A. to have live-in nanny-housecleaners; people in small L.A. >>>apartments often have live-ins, who in some cases share a bedroom with >>>the children. >>> >>>And, in a telling development, it is now possible to find better-paid >>>nannies who have their own live-in nannies, because it is almost >>>impossible to take care of others' children while raising your own. >>> >>>Last week, the non-profit Human Rights Watch released a study, titled >>>Hidden in the Home, of the domestic workers who are brought into the >>>United States on special visas for diplomatic employees. Their median >>>wage, it found, is $2.14 an hour, and their median workday is 14 hours >>>long. And this is a better-off class of nanny. Very few of the 80,000 to >>>100,000 live-in domestics in Los Angeles, including Rosa, have >>>citizenship papers. The only people you'll find with fully legal >>>domestics here are those who think they might run for public office some >>>day. >>> >>> CUSTER >>> >>> After his morning meal, Custer is led out to the ranch's main >>> training-and-play yard, for a series of activities the dogs clearly look >>> forward to. An employee is paid to work in the play area all day and >>> keep the dogs entertained by throwing balls and hosting games. In small >>> groups or individually, the dogs are led out for intensive training >>> sessions lasting 20 to 45 minutes, twice a day. >>> >>>At the centre of the yard is Canyon View's most famous feature, the >>>bone-shaped in-ground swimming pool, in which the dogs eagerly romp. A >>>bone-shaped fountain sits next to it. Up on a hill is an elaborate play >>>structure, which the older dogs shade themselves beneath; a nearby tree >>>is rigged to provide a fine mist of cool water, to cool down play-heated >>>dogs. It is a delightful scene of canine happiness, free from barks and >>>boredom. >>> >>>The dogs must first pass a consultation session, and demonstrate their >>>sociability with other dogs. After all, this isn't for everyone. >>> >>>"They really do lead pretty good lives," Wolpert says of his retrievers. >>>"It costs a little more, but it means that when we go away we can truly >>>have a vacation without guilt. Just ask the dogs -- you can tell how >>>excited they are when they come here." >>> >>> ROSA >>> >>> By mid-afternoon, Rosa has slipped into her usual sense of numbing >>> tedium. The girls are asleep, the mess is under control, and she has >>> nothing to do but wait. When the girls were awake, she took them to a >>> park, where she could talk with fellow Latina women, but most of the >>> time she is out of contact with other adults. >>> >>>It will get worse when the parents arrive home tonight, and Rosa is >>>expected to disappear into the background. Although the mother speaks >>>passable Spanish, they have never engaged in conversation, beyond >>>staccato commands. Like most domestics, she is never invited to eat with >>>the family. "I think they're embarrassed that I'm here," she says. >>> >>>"You're inside and you're enclosed. It gives you a desperate feeling," >>>says Meruim, 25, a fellow Salvadoran who lives in Rosa's neighbourhood. >>>Meruim worked as a live-in last year for $200 a week before escaping to >>>the more lucrative and sociable world of contract house-cleaning, where >>>she works for a women-run cooperative. "This is harder work, but at least >>>I get to spend time with other people, and go home at night," she says. >>> >>>Meruim found her live-in job especially depressing because she has a >>>university degree in public administration from San Salvador, but her >>>employers refused to speak to her in anything but the most perfunctory >>>and patronizing tones. A great many domestic workers today have at least >>>some postsecondary education, an indication of the enormous chasm of >>>opportunity between first- and third-world economies. >>> >>>"This is part of a new worldwide pattern: women who are from relatively >>>educated, if not affluent, backgrounds, often with their own domestic >>>workers, who find themselves in poverty and working as domestics >>>themselves," says Pierette Hondagneu-Sotelo, a sociology professor at the >>>University of Southern California. She has just published Domestica, a >>>major study of domestic workers in the better-off communities of L.A. She >>>interviewed and surveyed 221 women working in houses, and her research >>>was no doubt aided by her own background: Her mother was a Chilean emigré >>>who worked as a household servant, and she herself, as an L.A. >>>professional, has employed Latin American nannies and housekeepers. >>> >>>Despite this experience, she was shocked to find that the No. 1 complaint >>>among domestics is not that they are denied a minimum wage and benefits, >>>but that they aren't treated like members of the family. In good measure, >>>this is because the new generation of domestics tend to be relatively >>>educated women with aspirations of their own, who want to think of >>>themselves as not servants but equals. >>> >>>"In one sense, the women won't change -- it's a situation where you have >>>employers who don't identify as employers, and many women who do this >>>work don't identify themselves as employees. I had not set out to find >>>that. It ran contrary to what I believed," she says. >>> >>>The North American myth of a classless society has made the >>>master-servant relationship awkward and cold. Both parties would rather >>>the grim disparity did not exist, and live in a constant state of denial, >>>unable to either bridge the gap or formalize it. >>> >>>One of the nannies interviewed by Hondagneu-Sotelo is Mirabel Centeno, a >>>Guatemalan woman who began working as a live-in in 1989, cleaning a >>>23-room house for $80 a week. On her first day in the house, she noticed >>>the Beethoven the senora had on her CD player. "They had Richard >>>Clayderman on and I recognized it, and when I said that, she stopped in >>>her tracks, her jaw fell open, and she just stared at me," Centeno >>>remembers. But the employer did not discuss it, and never mentioned music >>>again. Apparently, it just did not compute. >>> >>>Thirty-five years ago, almost all the women working as domestics would >>>have been black, riding buses in from L.A.'s southern neighbourhoods. The >>>civil-rights movement put a quick end to that: By the mid-1970s, no >>>self-respecting African-American woman would allow her daughter to become >>>a servant, even if it paid more than other jobs. The price of household >>>labour shot upward, giving rise to a key cliche of the era: "It's hard to >>>find good help these days." >>> >>>That plaint was answered in the early 1980s, with the collapse of the >>>Mexican economy. The Latin-American domestic tidal wave began. Between >>>1970 and 1990, the percentage of black women working as domestics fell >>>from 35 per cent to four per cent, while Latin-American women increased >>>their representation in this business from 9 per cent to 68 per cent. >>> >>>By the end of the 1990s, though, many Mexican women had followed in black >>>mothers' footsteps, and made sure their daughters would never work in >>>someone's house. "When you ride the buses, you never meet domestics from >>>East L.A. [the established Mexican-American barrio]. People who live >>>there just don't do that work any more," says Anayansi Prado, who is >>>directing a documentary, Maid in America,about the lives of domestics. >>>Today, fewer than half of domestic workers, by most estimates, are Mexican. >>> >>>Central Americans have taken over the "good help" role, expanding the >>>popularity of household servants to levels not seen in 50 years, but just >>>ask them if they intend to keep playing the part. "Are you kidding? If >>>I'm still doing this job when I'm 30, I'd rather go jump in front of this >>>bus," says Rosa. She hopes to get more education, find a better-paying >>>job that lets her go home at night, and raise children of her own, who >>>will certainly not do household work. >>> >>>"None of the Latina immigrants I interviewed had aspired to the job, none >>>want their daughters to do it, and the younger ones hope to leave the >>>occupation altogether in a few years," Hondagneu-Sotelo says. "They do >>>take pride in their work, and they are extremely proud of what their >>>earnings enable them to accomplish for their families. Yet they are not >>>proud to be domestic workers." >>> >>> CUSTER >>> >>> At 5, after an afternoon of training and play interrupted by >>> cool-down breaks in an air-conditioned room, Custer and the rest of the >>> dogs are led inside for their evening meal. This is no simple ritual. >>> The standard Canyon Ranch diet is top-of-the-line dog food, containing >>> only lamb and rice, but few of the clients stick to the standard. >>> >>>"We get every kind of special food request you can imagine, and then >>>some," says Timko. "We get vegetarian diets, and raw foods [a dietary >>>movement in which people, and apparently their pets, eat only uncooked >>>fruits and vegetables], and we get up to six supplements at a time that >>>have to be crushed and mixed up and blended. And some people want the >>>food heated up." Or garnished with the latest pet-food fad -- dog gravy. >>> >>>Custer and Locksley are no exception. "The joy of golden retrievers is >>>their wonderful personalities, but the downside is that they are known >>>for their sensitive stomachs," says Wolpert. "We have them on a special >>>diet, and it costs us a pretty penny." >>> >>>After dinner, sated with food and exhausted from a day of happy play, the >>>retrievers are ushered into their private pens, given freshly laundered >>>towels and blankets, and given another night of quiet sleep. Canyon View >>>Ranch eschews some of the gimmicks of other luxury dog services -- humans >>>paid to share a bed with company-starved dogs; video-screening sessions >>>for the animals -- but it does offer a standard of habitation that would >>>satisfy many humans. >>> >>>Americans spend $29-billion annually on goods and services for their >>>pets, not including veterinarian bills, which make up an additional >>>$11-billion. These numbers have risen steeply in recent years, driven by >>>the expanding range of treats, toys and plush services people are willing >>>to buy, and by an increasingly anthropomorphic attitude toward domestic >>>animals. >>> >>>Wolpert concedes that he spends lavishly on his dogs, but he is far from >>>dog-centred by current L.A. standards. Aside from the Canyon View >>>extravagance and the diet, his dogs' indulgences are limited to monthly >>>trips to U-Wash Doggie in Hollywood (about $40 for a luxurious, >>>self-administered wash), and to medical expenses that would be the envy >>>of many American citizens -- up to $100 a month, even when the dogs are >>>healthy. >>> >>>There is plenty more he could spend his money on: A sudden emergence of >>>dog bakeries, offering biscotti and bagels in canine flavours; >>>psychiatric services, complete with pet-antidepressant prescriptions; >>>massage and aromatherapy services that would please a non-fur-covered >>>supermodel, and that old L.A. favourite, the deluxe dog burial plot. Most >>>of these extravagances have spread to other cities, including in Canada: >>>Almost everywhere in North America, it seems, people have more money to >>>spend on their household friends, if not on household help. >>> >>> ROSA >>> >>> As she rides the bus, Rosa pulls out photos of the girls she cares >>> for. Unlike the older son, whom she sees mostly as a mess-creating >>> nuisance, she speaks of the girls as if she were their mother, >>> delighting in a new word or facial expression, first steps, reactions to >>> new and undiscovered foods (last week, it was the thrill of the mango). >>> >>>"I really hope I see these girls when they are older, because they are >>>like my children now," she says. "I will have to move to a better job in >>>a year or two, but I don't want to lose the girls. I love them. Not the >>>house, but the children." >>> >>>Here is the terrible dilemma of today's domestic work: It is too >>>degrading and ill-paying to be a lifelong career for a literate young >>>woman; on the other hand, it can create emotional bonds like no other >>>job. They are false, of course, and when the job ends they are severed >>>forever: Many L.A. residents are horrified when their children throw >>>tantrums over the loss of a former nanny, especially if they are >>>inexplicably fluent in Spanish and demanding carné asada for lunch. Few >>>consider how this must feel for the departed Central American woman. >>> >>>"This is especially tough for women taking care of young children -- they >>>express a longing," says Hondagneu-Sotelo. "The biggest complaint I hear >>>by far is that they never get to see the children again." >>> >>>For Rosa, the transition will require a certain cold-heartedness. "When >>>my husband is here, I want to stop doing this work. I will do different >>>work, and go to school. I will have to say goodbye to the girls, and that >>>will be sad." She looks resigned, and puts away the pictures. >>> >>>Across the aisle, another Central American woman pulls out a copy of the >>>Los Angeles Times. On the cover, as usual, is a story about the trial of >>>a California man charged with killing a woman's small white dog in an act >>>of road rage. The crime galvanized the community, after $175,000 was >>>raised to find the dog's killer. For weeks, front-page stories have >>>decried the abuse of animals. >>> >>>A day before, the Human Rights Watch report had been released, decrying >>>the widespread physical abuse and economic mistreatment of thousands of >>>domestic workers in diplomatic households. Rosa would not have seen the >>>story, though -- it did not appear in any of the Los Angeles papers. >>> >>> >>> >>>----------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>------------------------------ >>> >>>Visit globeandmail.com for more breaking news and powerful financial tools. >>> >>>News: http://www.globeandmail.com >>>Mutual Funds: http://www.globefund.com >>>Stocks: http://www.globeinvestor.com >>>Careers: http://www.globecareers.com >>>ROBTv: http://www.robtv.com >>>ROB Magazine: http://www.robmagazine.com >>>Technology: http://www.globetechnology.com >>>Wheels: http://www.globemegawheels.com >>>Books: http://www.chaptersglobe.com >>> >>>Copyright 2001 | Globe Interactive, a division of Bell Globemedia >>>Publishing Inc. >> >>Dept. of Geography >>Simon Fraser University >>8888 University Dr. >>Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 >>Canada >>tel 604-291-5464 >> > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Department of Geography >Simon Fraser University >8888 University Dr. >Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 Canada >Phone 604-291-5464 Fax 604-291-5841 >www.sfu.ca/~hyndman > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick Blomley Associate Professor Department of Geography Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6, CANADA (604) 291-3713 (tel) (604) 291-5841 (fax) [log in to unmask] (email) http://www.sfu.ca/geography/faculty/blomley.htm