The managed hand: race, gender, and the body in beauty service work

327 Pages·2010·5.434 MB·English

by  Kang, Miliann

The Managed Hand
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The Managed Hand
race, gender, and the body
in beauty service work
miliann kang
university of california press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by
advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural
sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by
philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more
information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2010 by The Regents of the University of California
Portions of this book have been adapted and reprinted from Miliann
Kang, “The Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and
Emotions in Korean Immigrant-owned Nail Salons,” Gender and Society
17 (2003): 820–39, and Miliann Kang, “Manicuring Race, Gender, and
Class: Service Interactions in New York City Korean Nail Salons,” Race,
Gender, and Class 4 (1997): 143–64. Reprinted by permission.
Excerpt from “Anatomy of a Fish Store” by Ishle Park, from The
Temperature of This Water (New York: Kaya Press, 2004), reprinted by
permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kang, Miliann.
The managed hand : race, gender, and the body in beauty service
work / Miliann Kang.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-26258-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-26260-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Beauty culture—Social aspects—United States. 2. Korean American
women—Employment—United States. 3. Women immigrants—
Employment—United States. 4. Asian Americans—Social conditions.
5. United States—Race relations. I. Title.
tt958.k36 2010
391.6—dc22 2009035369
Manufactured in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer
waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC recycled certified and processed
chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by
BioGas energy.
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For my parents
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Manicuring Work 1
1. “There’s No Business Like the Nail Business” 32
2. “What Other Work Is There?”: Manicurists 57
3. Hooked on Nails: Customers 96
4. “I Just Put Koreans and Nails Together”:
Nail Spas and the Model Minority 133
5. Black People “Have Not Been the Ones
Who Get Pampered”: Nail Art Salons
and Black-Korean Relations 165
6. “You Could Get a Fungus”: Asian Discount Nail
Salons as the New Yellow Peril 201
Conclusion: What Is a Manicure Worth? 239
Notes 255
References 275
Index 301
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Illustrations
Photographs by Jeeyun Lee
1. Manicurists in nail salon 14
2. Buffing foot for pedicure 19
3. Nail polish display 34
4. Display of airbrushed and hand-painted nail designs
on acrylic nails 39
5. A nail salon owner sits at her reception desk 60
6. Back room of a nail salon 69
7. Male customer argues with manicurist 89
8. Pedicure as pampering body labor 97
9. Customers at nail art salons 117
10. Manicurist hand-paints designs on acrylic nails 131
11. Storefront of nail spa 136
12. Spa chairs and sanitizing machines 149
13. Storefront of nail art salon 168
14. Packed waiting room in nail art salon 188
15. Worker mixing chemicals 221
ix
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