Both Gay and Ehrenreich demonstrate how women and working-class people are subjected to forms of
exploitation, both economic and ideological. For Gay, cultural objects like “The Biggest Loser” reinforce “the
distance between [women’s’] bodies and what they could be with the proper discipline.” Gay emphasizes how
women’s physiques become “sites of discourse” that are ranked, exploited, and commodified. For Ehrenreich,
low wage jobs are a “trap” that force working people into a precarious existence over which they have little
control. Women and particularly women of color are the hardest by what Ehrenreich labels the “criminalization
of poverty,” deepening the spiral of inequity, while the most vulnerable are “victimized” for their unstable
situations. For your essay, use Gay and Ehrenreich to analyze how these levers of exploitation regulate and
control the lives of historically marginalized gendered and working-class identities. Be sure to use examples
from both authors to structure your analysis.
Thinking Questions
How does “exploitation” figure into each of the authors’ articles? What does “exploitation” reveal about the
asymmetry of power embedded in social, economic, and political systems, according to what both Ehrenreich
and Gay argue, respectively?
What does Gay mean by the “the physical embodiment of market value?” How might this dovetail with
Ehrenreich’s emphasis on the policing of working-class women and the circle of impoverishment that results
from low-wage labor?
How does the “spectacle” of shows like “The Biggest Loser” and other forms of media maintain and reproduce
gendered and/or racialized assumptions about marginalized “bodies,” those that Gay argues are designated as
“a contagion that must be eradicated.
Sample Solution