“Charming Eyes”: Exploring Agency through the Beauty and Makeup Practices of Salesladies in Metropolitan Manila’s Department Stores

• Main Author: Del Rosario-Rondilla, Aileen
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2020
• Subjects: agency; aesthetic labor; beauty practices; body part labor; capital; “charming eyes; ” class; department stores; emotional labor; facework; interactive service work; makeup; Metropolitan Manila; Philippines; retail sales work; salesladies; service interactions; social mobility projects; subjectivities
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/socialtransformations/vol8/iss1/5; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/socialtransformations/article/1141/viewcontent/ST_208.1_205_20Article_20__20Rondilla.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

An examination of the role and meaning of beauty and makeup practices among the salesladies of Metropolitan Manila’s department stores brings forth a worker-centered analysis of “agency” using the notion of “charming eyes.” Here, we find an intimate blending of the practices of working as a saleslad...