Abstract
Situating their analyses somewhere in the nexus of Arlie Russell Hochschild’s The Managed Heart (1983), The Second Shift (1989), and The Time Bind (1997), Mullaney and Shopes introduce us to the world of Direct Home Sales [DHS], a billion-dollar industry that is changing the way that women navigate the demands of work and family. Striking the perfect balance between theory and empiricism, Paid to Party is a must have for any scholar interested in work, emotion, gender, or family.
Epitomized by baskets, candles, makeup, and sex toys, “The business model [of direct selling] involves the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location, primarily through in-home product demonstrations or parties” (p. 5). To distinguish themselves from typical forms of work, DHS recruiters often market themselves using a series of so-called F words. Historically, these have included words like females, friends, food, and financial perks. Recently, however, this list has grown to include flexibility, fulfillment, freedom, family first, fantasy, and feelings—all of which may hold more appeal to more contemporary women.
In chapter 1, “Creating a Feel-Good Business,” Mullaney and Shopes detail the history of the party-plan model that marked DHS’ shift from peddling (a historically male dominated pastime) to in-home selling, which is currently female dominated with a reliance on emotional labor. Separating DHS work from other service work is the type of emotional labor required. Simply put, it’s not enough for DHS workers to be friendly; they must also be fun. And instead of managing their negative feelings regarding customers or clients, much of the emotional labor performed by DHS consultants stem from larger structural and cultural factors, such as the stigma associated with selling baskets or lipsticks; conflicts with spouses over time, definitions of work, and child care; and general discomfort around the male-centric sales process.
The heart of Paid to Party undoubtedly resides in chapters 2 and 3, “From Temporal Acrobats to Architects” and “Out with the Old and In with the New,” where Mullaney and Shopes introduce their key concept, emoting time. “Emoting time” blends Michael Flaherty’s (2011) “time work,” which refers to efforts to promote or suppress a temporal experience, with Hochschild’s (1983) “emotion work,” or efforts to promote or suppress an emotional experience. Emoting time is the DHS industry’s attempt to transform the relationship between work and family through a reconfiguration of time and emotion. It does this by selling a dynamic alternative to traditional conceptions of workplace time—that is, temporal flexibility, which, in turn, influences consultants’ emotional experience of work.
Through training and observation, DHS consultants are taught to leverage their time through the efforts of others, namely, party hostesses and junior consultants. DHS also provides them control over five temporal components that organize traditional work: duration, tempo, periodicity, sequence, and timing. In other words, DHS consultants have the ability to work as much or as little as they choose; whichever hours, weeks, or months they choose; at whatever speed they choose; and within reason, at whatever task they choose. True temporal flexibility, which surpasses current models of flextime, provides “a starting point for women to let go of their guilty feelings, because guilt, more so than many other emotions, is about time, particularly in the intersection of work and family” (p. 61).
Emoting time also alters consultants’ perceptions of emotions. As noted, DHS is all about fun. Adopting a party model as its primary point of sales, consultants are literally “paid to party.” DHS consultants often receive specific advice on deep acting that allows them to manage their negative emotions. Network-based DHS allows consultants to work friends, or friends of friends, often while drinking wine and playing games. Consultants also participate in industry events comprised of contests, networking, and self-development opportunities. Most DHS companies and consultants frame the work in terms of helping themselves and others reach their highest potential. Thus DHS consultants form, with industry assistance, a tribe based on partying, fun, and self-development.
In the remaining chapters, Mullaney and Shope tackle such issues as how DHS continues to flourish in today’s busy world, handling errant partygoers, and consultants’ defense against those who label DHS as multilevel marketing. While each of these topics may seem specific to DHS, the authors reveal broader insights into the nature of reciprocity, friendship, and work-related stigma. They also illustrate how so-called party games serve to perpetuate hegemonic heterosexuality, as well as monogamy, much in the same way that DHS itself underscores the sanctity of “traditional” families and stay-at-home moms.
I found this book to be one of the most compelling books on emotion I have read in a long time. It is destined to remain not only on my bookshelf but also on my syllabi for years to come.