Labor is a large theme that pervades the Oberlin College campus and surrounding town. While it can be broken down into specific categories, overlap often happens, making specific labors difficult to describe under one-word ideas. As we looked throughout Oberlin, we tried our best to find terms that covered all types of labors. Our three subtitles are Creative and Intellectual, Physical, and Service.
Our idea for Creative labor stems mostly from the considerable presence the Oberlin Conservatory has over the town, but extends to all arts classrooms around campus. Musicians, painters, sculptors, and the like are all contained in this term. Intellectual labor is the continuous theoretical discussion and analysis of concepts. Almost all Oberlin students fall under this roof. They are always reading, writing, talking, and exchanging ideas and opinions among themselves and professors. Intellectual labor also extends to those in professions where their accrued knowledge is practically applied in their job, such as a doctor, lawyer, or administrator. We decided to group Creative and Intellectual labor into one because of how much overlap exists; we believe one cannot be in effect without the other. Physical labor is mostly directed at athletes and those who spend time in Phillips Gym, but also applies to construction workers, carpenters, masons, and the like. This type of labor can be any sort of activity done to improve bodily or mental health through physical exertion, or those whose work requires their body to be their main tool. Lastly, Service describes positions where an extended education is not necessary and from which one does not intend to launch a career. These jobs could include waiting tables, secretarial work, or janitorial duties.
In Oberlin, certain types of labor are definitely valued more than others. Since Oberlin is mostly populated with people in academia or people seeking an academic degree, creative and intellectual labors are naturally valued more, while physical labor and labor that is merely done for the money tend to be seen as inferior or somehow less honorable. This is evidence of how the context and the societal niche in which different forms of labor are placed is critical when determining their perceived relative value.
For an elementary understanding of how the various forms of labor are relatively valued on a national scale, we turn to average annual salaries. The highest-paying jobs in the United States entail practically-applied intellectual labor—that of doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, psychiatrists, and lawyers. That these professions require advanced college degrees speaks to the appropriateness of their being branded “intellectual.” This is not to say, however, that American capitalism prizes all jobs involving intellectual labor. While the mean annual wage of surgeons is $233,150, that of elementary school teachers is $56,320. What is the distinction between these two intellectual endeavors that justifies such a disparity? One may provide any number of “logical” explanations: the work of saving lives is more significant and demanding than the work of educating youth, or surgeons possess a more specialized skill set than the average educator. Breaking down these arguments, however, reveals that far from being “natural” truths, they hinge on cultural preconceptions.
At the opposite end of the pay scale, we encounter service jobs, such as fast food cooks and dishwashers, and agricultural laborers. Many workers in these industries receive minimum wage: $7.25/hour. That these workers should earn minimal compensation may seem intuitive: many would suggest that their labor is easily replaceable. Interrogating this assumption, however, forces us to confront how we as a nation define expertise. What skills we consider “commonplace” and which “specialized” are powerfully tied to classist, sexist, and racist prejudices.
The first espresso machine with steam was patented in Italy in 1884. Over time, the machine was improved until the machines of the 1940s, which closely resemble the machines of today. The whooshing noise form the steam in espresso machines has become a staple in the soundscapes of coffee shops and cafes.
According to the NCA National Coffee Drinking Trends, 83% of Americans drink coffee. When this statistic is coupled with the caffeine content in coffee and it’s use by the working population to get a start to their day, it becomes clear that coffee plays an integral part in the lives of working Americans. This increasing presence in everyday life has lead to the rise of coffee shops in order to make availability of coffee more widespread. In an age where more and more people are relying on the caffeine in coffee to wake up before work, the labor force in America is becoming more dependent on coffee to get a start to their days.
Jazz music arose in the late 19th - early 20th century as a mixture between Western classical music and traditional African music. New Orleans was a hot spot for the earliest Jazz, but the genre slowly infiltrated other parts of the countries in the 1920s with the prohibition of alcohol and the rise of speakeasies. However, the history of music in general goes back much further than that. Mastery of an instrument takes an enormous amount of hours and musicians and other performers tend to not receive the recognition of the intensive labor required for this to happen. This questions the nature of labor and what is considered to truly be work and what is considered to be leisure.
Over Parents’ Weekend in November 2014, the Oberlin Opera Theatre presented “Street Scene.” The opera takes place on the doorstep of a tenement on the East Side of Manhattan on two incredibly hot days in 1946. There are two main plotlines: the romance between neighbors Rose Maurrant and Sam Kaplan, and the affair of Rose’s mother, which is eventually discovered by Rose’s father.
Arts productions are an exceptional amount of work. Cast and crew must come together to create a beautiful production. On the individual level, everyone must know and perform their specific job at the right time. Though these kinds of art productions seem like an enjoyable activity to partake in, everyone involved puts in much time. These productions also carry an immense weight, for they are the vessels through which so much of our culture is passed down and shared.
Phillips Physical Education Center houses the weight room for Oberlin College where many athletes go to workout. Bodybuilding began in the early 20th century, and while nothing of that sort happens at Phillips, it is still the site of people improving their bodies. Over the years, bodybuilding has shifted from being an activity exclusive to bodybuilders and athletes to being a social activity the general populace enjoys. It unites both the athletes looking to gain an edge on their opponents and the average person looking to stay in shape.
This sound is characterized by the clang of metal weights, heavy breathing of the participants, words of encouragement from their partners, and the steady stream of rock music playing throughout the workout space. While there is variation, these four things are found in most gyms around the world.
Breaking ground in March 2014, the construction site on the Oberlin Inn will redo the restaurant, hotel, and conference center that were formerly there. It will be renamed in honor of Peter B. Lewis, the late philanthropist and chairman of Progressive Insurance Company who is also the project donor. Often paired with the college as a resting place for guests and parents of students, the Inn has been around since the College’s founding.
A more traditional form of labor, the construction site contributes to the noises of the busy intersection outside of Oberlin’s downtown area. Many normal visual cues are seen: men in hardhats, a big hole in the ground, many types of excavators moving the earth, etc. All of these things can be heard in the recording as well, giving depth to the site along with its visual stimuli.
A conveyor dishwashing machine ferries dish racks through a chamber, to be washed relatively quickly. It is ideal for commercial contexts, adhering to an assembly-line model. The commercial dishwasher’s job entails sorting and rinsing dishes, cups/glasses, and utensils and arranging them in racks to be washed, and then sorting and stacking clean dishes. Commercial dishwashers must stand for the duration of their shifts, carry loads up to thirty pounds, and work in a humid environment.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2013, there were an estimated 498,110 dishwashers employed in the United States making a mean hourly wage of $9.22. This is $0.95 above the living wage for one adult that the MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates for Lorain County, Ohio, where this sound was recorded. It is $8.41 below the living wage for one adult with one dependent.
A standard blender consists of a jar into which various ingredients are deposited. A motorized blade at the bottom of the jar activates to mix, puree, or emulsify foods, depending on the selected speed. Polish-American inventor Stephen Poplawski developed the first electric blender in 1922, designed specifically to make malted milk shakes. The blender experienced successive refinements and rebrandings throughout the 1920s and 1930s by various innovators and entrepreneurs. In 1949, William Grover “Papa” Barnard launched his Vitamix blender with the first American infomercial. Barnard promoted the appliance’s potential impact on consumer health, which his savvy pitch linked to capitalistic aspirations, nationalist sentiment, and the fulfillment of “wifely obligations.”
Sonically speaking, blenders can be notoriously loud, and consumers place a high value on relative quietness. “Stealthy” brands are particularly prized in commercial contexts, given a culture that deprecates the noise of labor as disruptive to the enjoyment of its fruits.
A time clock, or a punch clock, is used by employers to keep track of how many hours their employees are working. The employee has a specific time card, usually made out of heavy material, that they insert into the time clock, and the time clock then prints a time stamp. It is important that the employee both clocks in and out in order to be paid for the complete period of time that they worked. The first type of time clock was created in the 1880s, but the type of time clock in this recording came about in the 1980s. A time clock is always associated with the workplace and working in the United States has almost always been linked with social status and the desire to further oneself in society. For many people in the United States, working and making money was one of the only ways to further their socioeconomic standings, leading the the time clock’s inextricable connection to labor, success and social status.
A conveyor dishwashing machine ferries dish racks through a chamber, to be washed relatively quickly. It is ideal for commercial contexts, adhering to an assembly-line model. The commercial dishwasher’s job entails sorting and rinsing dishes, cups/glasses, and utensils and arranging them in racks to be washed, and then sorting and stacking clean dishes. Commercial dishwashers must stand for the duration of their shifts, carry loads up to thirty pounds, and work in a humid environment.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2013, there were an estimated 498,110 dishwashers employed in the United States making a mean hourly wage of $9.22. This is $0.95 above the living wage for one adult that the MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates for Lorain County, Ohio, where this sound was recorded. It is $8.41 below the living wage for one adult with one dependent.