Honest Living
Whilst I was at work, bar-tending and waitressing, I was propositioned by a customer twice my age to travel with him to Thailand for eight weeks, all expenses paid. He said that if he had a girlfriend from England to escort him abroad then he wouldn’t have to worry about Thai women throwing themselves at him to have sex in exchange for his money. I consider myself to be a very open-minded person, and in many cases I do not object to business deals that involve companionship. I understand loneliness, the fear of temptation, wanting protection, and I do believe that money is a tool that grown-ups have the right to use as they wish so long as all parties involved know what’s at stake. However, what I don’t understand is what about me screamed ‘escort’ to this man? Was it my care and attention, asking him if he wanted another beverage and selling him some salted peanuts to go with his gin and tonic? Or, maybe it was the friendly conversation we had about Hendrix guitar to pass the time while I polished glasses and he sat by himself? I spent the rest of my night laughing - a bit in shock, insecure, and embarrassed - wondering if customer service is in fact an ‘honest living’?
[make an] honest living - to earn money by working hard at a job
Found at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/make-an-honest-living
Is that it? Working hard at something?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080929161828AAXu4z0
I checked out the site above and found more particular opinions about what is to be considered an honest living, although none of these answers are in fact clear-cut solutions or definitions. Not only does one have to question what s/he considers to be honest as well as her/his own honesty, but the issue of legality arises. Working as a waitress is considered honest, but getting paid under the table undermines this. Working as a judge or law enforcer is considered honest, but working as an attorney is considered dishonest. Although I do not consider this website to be the most credible source on the matter, I do consider people’s opinions to be a crucial argument in the determination of defining cultural politics of morality and ethical issues in the workforce and economy.
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During the ‘coffee morning’ discussion that occurred at Chisenhale Dance Space on January 17th regarding the working conditions of dancers I briefly brought up the topic of dance being related to and regarded as notions of prostitution, historically speaking. While someone who works as a dancer uses their body as their tool and primary interface of economic exchange I wonder if this affects the level of respect that people who dance are still struggling to attain in the public workforce? Within the field of dance, some jobs are respected (dare I say, considered more honest) than others. There is a hierarchy of respect in the field of dance not only regarding roles, such as choreographer versus dancer, but also in terms of dance genre and/or dance styles and movement vocabulary: entertainment dance, contemporary dance, ballet, belly-dance, pole-dance, street dance, social dance; and, each of these styles incorporate their own set of ideals and integrity that is completely subjective to the performer, audience, and legislative parties involved. Issues of legality and morality become subjective too, as circumstances vary from person to place. Whether or not a particular dance job is considered honest, can dance ever stem away from its archived history of being a source of prostitution, or the exchange of selling one’s body/bodily experience for a sustained lifestyle of survival, passion, and pleasure?
Let me elaborate a bit more with another example, first by referring to Alex’s notes (see blog archive, WORKING CONDITIONS) on the ‘Coffee morning’:
Christopher Matthews started us off by recollecting an experience of an audition he had just attended. It involved the vague instruction of ‘get as high as you can’ and also a task of dancing with your finger in someone else’s mouth at all times. Chris couldn’t locate the reasoning behind the entire 3hr experience which seemed to be offloaded from choreographer to eager-for-work dancers without the slightest tact, or options for those less willing to perform a task as invasive as contact with another’s body fluids. Those of us discussing were far from prudes but could plainly see the need for choreographers to contextualise their work more – provide variants in terms of exploring an idea – and conduct themselves more responsibly by perhaps discussing the issues of the work in the audition so that the dancers are informed of what will be asked of them and then working any intimate moments or requirements of the work out during the more in depth rehearsal process.
When is it acceptable to ask someone to perform duties not written in the fine print while s/he thinks of her/himself to be engaging in another line of work?
Dance is a form of customer service, but it is also a form of art. Likewise, forms of prostitution can be regarded as an art-form, a seductive art. How does one protect her/himself from requests ultimately demanded of an other in the realms of customer service, which respects the satisfaction of the customer, audience member, institution, or choreographer more than the worker, who, in my opinion, has authority and chooses to place her/himself in this context of work for it to exist in the first place? Well, I think that’s the beauty in work: one is not what they do, but choose to do what. The moral compass is in your hands, and morality is a fickle needle.
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I said to this man, who propositioned me to venture to Thailand with him, “Well…,” as I stepped further behind the bar to assert my distance and control over the situation. I told him that if I knew of anyone who wanted to escort him, then I would let him know. No contact details or money was exchanged. He left the bar, and I continued to work the rest of the evening to be paid for my shift, honestly.
