ABSTRACT
When I told them I was planning to do my research in a hotel, the project team warned me that I’d have to change my appearance. I’d have to start with some new clothes. So when I had my first interview with the Human Resources Manager at The Urban Hotel, I wore a matching home-sewn linen skirt and loose jacket, with a pair of reasonably comfortable dress shoes. As I walked through the lobby with the eyes of a prospective researcher rather than a harried traveler, I realized I was hardly prepared. The Urban employees, besides running an impressively large hotel, had stepped out of magazine illustrations. Even with their ethnic diversity, there was a homogeneity in their look, the kind promoted through the mass media. Their grooming and makeup were impeccable, their clothes didn’t wrinkle, and their smiles never faltered. They were youthful, vital, attractive people. When the Human Resources Manager accepted my proposal, I was delighted. Straight away I headed to a seconds shop on the west side and bought several outfits, added new makeup and nail polish, and practiced smiling when I talked. Although I did not yet understand the deeper identity or the cultural implications of my new look, I could at
least blend in while I was learning what it meant to work in a large, bigcity hotel.
