means and ehren

Surplus Value (Ehrenreich context)

The value produced by low-wage workers (like those at Walmart) that exceeds their minimal pay

Commodification of Labor

Treating a person's time

Alienation (Workplace)

The feeling of being estranged from one’s work

Dignity Denied

The treatment of low-wage workers with suspicion and disrespect

Bodily Capital

The physical attributes (looks

Commodification of Looks

The process where a model's physical appearance is turned into a product and sold to clients.

Aesthetic Labor

High-status but low-pay freelance work (like modeling) where the worker's physical appearance and personality are the primary products.

False Consciousness (Modeling)

The belief held by many models that they are just "one more casting" away from success

Commodity Fetishism (Fashion)

The way glamorous images of models hide the real exploitation and backstage precarity of the industry.

Winner-Take-All Market

An economic system where a few elite individuals earn millions while the vast majority (like models) earn very little and live in debt.

Front Stage vs. Backstage (Goffman Meets Marx)

The contrast between the public gloss and glamour of fashion (Front) and the rejection

Feminized Labor

Work that is undervalued or sexualized because it is predominantly performed by women; often involves emotional or aesthetic performance.

Social Reproduction (Class Limits)

The way class structures are maintained; even "glamour" jobs like modeling often have class limits that prevent true upward mobility.

Demystification

The sociological task of unearthing the "backstage tricks" and relations of production to show that what seems "natural" (like beauty) is socially produced.

Internalized Failure

The tendency of workers in a capitalist system to blame themselves for their lack of success rather than questioning systemic or structural barriers.