The Jane Dough: If you think The Feminine Mystique isn’t still relevant today, then you have got another think coming. Atlantic writer Phoebe Maltz Bovy recently pointed out that unpaid internships, especially those in fashion, are often written off as a rich kid problem — specifically, a rich girl problem, as women take the majority of unpaid internships and usually have another source of income (most likely their parents.) “To many people, the face of the unpaid intern is already that of a young woman whose survival (and possibly It-bag) needs are already being met, and there’s a reason for that,” she wrote.
4 comments:
I'm pretty indecisive about my opinion on this. Yes, I agree that not paying interns who do the work of a full-time employee on the basis that they are supported otherwise is wrong. However, is it true that this is actually the reason for unpaid fashion interns? Is this actually an issue caused by gender inequality and preconceived notions, or is it simply that companies want interns so that they do not have to pay them, young wealthy women or not? I'm leaning towards the latter. Gender inequality is real, and an important issue, but it can't be tied to everything.
I am really not a fan of the fashion industry in general, its a little too cutthroat. I agree with Camille that there are probably more reasons that the interns go with out pay, one of which is probably because such a large number of women are willing to do the internship anyways. But I completely disagree with not paying interns. It really limits who will be able to work for your for one thing, and also is really not ok if it is not going to lead to a paid job afterwards. I really dont think this piticular case is a gender issue. There are plenty of male interns who dont get paid either and a large number of designers are female and there seem to be no problems paying them ridiculous amounts of money. And for that matter since there is so much money in the fashion world I dont see why there is nothing left to share amongst the interns.
Having unpaid internships is a common practice in most industries. Also using interns unfairly and for less than educational purposes is a commonly annoying occurrence in almost every industry. If you do not like an internship, then leave!
I think that this article was a little too general and never quite decided what point they wanted to prove. However, that section with quotes from previous fashion interns with things that they had to do was most disturbing. I for one would not have been picking up any dog poop for any internship.
I am not at all surprised that this is the case. I have a friend who worked at a fashion house and was unpaid but was given clothes to wear and was then able to keep. She sold the clothes she was given for 1300 dollars so she didn't walk away empty handed. I know that this isn't the case for a lot of internships but when you can get them you should appreciate them. I think this isn't a foreign thing really look at The Devil Wears Prada and Love and Other Disasters. Both movies show how brutal the fashion industry is.
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