Sociology

In the course of the years which had passed, it is important that as people there should be a realization that work force had changed. In the past centuries, work is an unimportant commodity to individuals. Everyone does not have to work because they are able to get different kinds of products in different places. However due to the course of the eras there are varieties of methods which had changed the concept of work.

In the industrial era, men often work for their families. As a social construct in the society, men are often given the responsibility to provide for their families. Moreover men are intended to work in order to provide better future. Thus, they were mostly successful in attaining the needs of their family. However, due to the higher concern with attaining economic stability, women are also needed to the work for their families. Due to this, women are also needed to work also for their families.

In the current state of the society, women yearn for equality. Thus, many women are in dire need to have their own source of income to also provide the need of the society. Thus, women also opt to work in order to enjoy and have capability in terms of their economic needs. Hence, today more and more women are actively participating in providing their services to different corporations to earn money. Thus, women are given the opportunity to provide their own needs and their families. Given this, it is very evident that changes in production are truly different from what it was before.

On the other hand, changes in the business industry are also present. In the course of the 20th century, there is a trend which most theorist called as outsourcing. Different corporations opt to invest in different counties to produce their products. Moreover, this provides positive benefits for both sides (countries and corporations). Through outsourcing, different corporations are able to produce more and earn more. Given that there are states which encourage foreign direct investments, there countries provide much lower labor cost. Through this type of methodology, the company is able to earn more while also providing skills to laborers. In addition to this, there are more jobs available within the country. In looking upon this situation, most of the countries which participate in this type of schemes are developing nations and underdeveloped nations. Through outsourcing different sides benefit from attaining financial gain.

Background of the Author
Leslie Salzinger is currently an associate professor in Boston College. Before attaining this position, Salzinger started to be an assistant professor of Sociology in the University of Chicago from 1996 to 2004. Afterwards she became an assistant professor in the Sociology Department in Boston College from 2004 up to 2005. Before entering the field of education, she was a Summa Cum Laude in Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Relations in Harvard and Radcliffe College in 1981. In the course of her career she was able to attain various types of Honors and Awards. Some of these are LASA Bryce Book Award in her written work of Gender in Production in October 2004. Salzinger had also received honors in Author Meets Critics in which she discusses Gender in Production in the Pacific Sociological Association in San Francisco. Before those years, she was able to attain other awards and honors in her different articles such as Manufacturing Sexual Objects Harassment. Desire and Discipline on a Maquiladora Shopfloor.  Other than her achievements she was also a Book Review Editor for the American Journal of Sociology a Developmental Editor, a council member of ASA Sex and Gender Section and the likes.

Synopsis of the Book
The book written by Leslie Salzinger is about her study and reflection of the status of Production in Mexico. Moreover Salzinger takes her readers in the world of gender within the country of Mexico within its global factories. In order to provide the readers a very interesting preview of the gendered world in Mexico, the author had utilized her personal voice, a careful ethnographic work and refined analysis of the situation within the maquiladoras. Through her study, she had created a book which captured the exact feel the lifestyle in the maquiladoras. Through her study, the author was able to create a persuasive case that the course of transnational production is entails a gendered process. The whole book utilizes the contemporary feminist theories in order to present the main scenario of gender within such environment. Salzinger provides a daily account of the practices and also examines such situations. Through the analysis the author provides, the situation of gendered production is shed in a new light in the course of globalization.

Gender and Labor
 In gender it is mentioned that equality is one of the most important matters which is needed to be addressed. Given that the social construct in the society mentions that the male gender is more dominant it is immediately connoted that women are the lower classes of individuals. Given this kind of disadvantage, women are unable to work. Most of the opportunities available limit women to work at home or in the homes of other families to provide for their needs. Thus, women are not trusted with other work which will provide them more a much stable economic stability.

On the other hand males, given than they are stronger and more capable of work, they are prioritized for labor production. Due to their physical strength men have more work to be done. Therefore, choices of the business organization of their employees are mostly male especially in physical labor. Thus, males are given more opportunity to work with different companies with their desire job.

Inequality in Labor
 As provided in the first part of this section is the inequality of opportunities. The inequality which I shall discuss will be based on the written work of Leslie Salzinger. In the course of her discussion Salzinger had mentioned highly about the gendered production. Hence, in chapter 1 she provides an over view of the context of labor in Mexico specifically in the Panoptimex. The author mentioned that Panoptimex is a transnational company which provides global production and is often at work. The workers as she observed have various types non traditional women in one masculinized producers in a second embattled would be-men in a third (Salzinger, 2003, p. 2). Based on her observation the classification of women varies depending on the department and floors. These barriers proclaim what type of productive femininity in which helps set the attitude of workers.
Moreover she discusses the importance of the attitudes of workers. She had mentioned that the concept of workers by the transnational corporations are ideally such, malleable, trainable, undemandingis reshaping the contemporary world. Additionally upon these ideal concepts of the workers, it is also important that factors relating to capitalism should be given highlight to fully understand the given situation. Although this was the case, the author mainly highlighted the concept of labor productivity through the power which is attained by workers whether male or female. Although the position which women and men have a very different (managerial for and labor work for female), both genders attain power through the nature of community in the work place.

As men and women are different species, they have different ways of expressing and attaining power. In the case of men, due to their prestige and position in the company which provides them respect and power. Thus they have the capability to do anything. Anything means the inclusion of their capability to manipulate their peoplemostly women in their personal agendas. On the other hand, women attain power from the fact that they are being desired. Therefore, they utilize their bodies in order to gain attention from men which separates them from other laborers in the company. Through this, the male dominance is still present while females enjoy the attention of men. Hence, there are moments in which the male and the female genders attain power through their own ways.

Analysis and Critique
The book which had been provided by Leslie Salzinger is a great book which narrates the relationship of men and women in Panoptimex Corporation in Mexico. Through the usage of a narrative way of writing, she explicitly provides the readers with a tantamount of information regarding the work place as well as the interaction of males and females. Through the authors experience and point of view, the book was able to present the variety of ways to which the work place present the highs and the lows of being within a corporation which is highly gendered.

Moreover the book had presented the basics of gender and production through a feminist view point. Hence, the author presented the situation of different individuals within the company. Therefore, Salzinger had first hand information coming from people who work in such environment. However, there are many noticeable concepts which the book truly lacks. First is the perspective of the international community with transnational corporations with regards to gender roles and gendered processes. Given that corporations are highly concerned with level of production of their employees, the reality of the neglect of transnational companies in which gendered situation is already assumed.

Furthermore, the perception of Salzinger is highly ideal in terms of the insights she had provided. In my own point of view, the book lacks controversy in a sense that the realism of the content is present however it is not enough to entice readers. In addition to this, the book which the author had created is not updated to the latest issues of transnational production and gender production.

Gender production does not simply state that there is inequality within the community or the work place. Rather, it would be best if the author provided a manifestation that the factors of gendered production and transnational production are also threatening to the concept of culture and economic stability. Given that issues related to gender not simply the gender in production but the reality which is experienced by most individuals.

Similar to Mexico, different countries also experience challenges due to gender and production. In the current trend of globalization, there are countries that opt to attain more and more foreign investments in order to cope up with the economy. One of these countries is the Philippines. As a developing country, the Philippines had increased it relations with other countries. It had managed to attain various foreign investments in order for the economy to rise.  There are issues in which women are able to attain jobs however they are unable to attain the equal wage of men. Men often have higher wages while most women do not have any choice but to be satisfied with the money they earn. Moreover, inequality in economic stability is also at hand. Given this, the author must have given highlight in one of the most important aspect of work which is money. Gender relations are important however if reality is mentioned, the book does not have what is currently needed by the society.

The current need of the society is a preview of what transnational corporations do in order for them to earn higher while making their laborers suffer poverty and inequality.  Gender is an important aspect of the society. Norms, values, and beliefs plays a big role in such situations but then, authors must take consideration of the reality and social construct of each nation. Similar to Mexico, people are known to be conservatives and traditional which relates to how the country processes its actions and decisions.

Conclusion
In the end, the book, as I personally see it is largely lacking in the aspects of reality. Given that feminism is a positive context which advocates equal opportunities of men and women, a huge part of the transnational industry of business is still not fully aware of such situations. Although there are some that are responsive to such sentiments, most transnational corporations are taking advantage of the fragility of women to be treated less than men. Given that women lack opportunities to attain higher paying jobs, the choices are also less.

Hence, I am not fully satisfied with the improvements which are suggested by Leslie Salizinger. Although different material related to feminism is well done and greatly given attention. The improvements of workers of maquila in Mexico would take a long time to be attained. Due to the culture and society of Mexico, the limitations and processes of the changes would be endless. It would take a long time to address the needs of the people as well as the company. Moreover provided that transnational companies are much based on their profits, consideration of the peoples situation is not an aspect addressed by these types of organizations or the government. Hence, in order to provide a much applicable way of solving the problem, the reality of situation much be taken into a huge consideration. Given that the world is currently at halt due to the global financial crisis, no corporation would provide adequate attention to such issues. It is the now that there organizations address in order to provide more work while also reaching the stability of the corporation beyond the financial challenges.

Therefore, the book was an great read for those who are interested in gender and global production. However, there are many lacking areas which were not assumed by the author. Furthermore there must be changes in the context of how Leslie Salzinger sees global production. It is not only gender that is important in production but also cultural and societal beliefs of the country.