Page 128 - The Disneyization of Society

PERFORMATIVE LABOUR

Thus, in spite of call centre work not being an obvious candidate for the
promotion of emotional labour, because of the non-visual nature of the interaction,
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it would seem to have infiltrated this type of service encounter as well, although the
cultivation of deep acting can be especially difficult in this environment. 74

Zoos

There is a growing expectation in zoos of good customer service and since the
interface with the public is a component of this, it would not be too unwise to
predict a growing tendency towards the use of emotional labour as zoos become
more commercialized. Indeed, Dibb reports that encouraging staff to demonstrate
‘a positive attitude toward customer service’ is a preoccupation for managers of
zoos and wildlife parks in the UK. 75
When such service is not forthcoming the effects can create a highly negative
response. A landscape architect described the enthusiasm of a group of his students
for a zoo’s exhibits concerning conservation

until we reached the snack stand. The young woman who waited on us was so uninterested and the
food … was so poor that my students talked of nothing else the whole afternoon. The magical
opportunity created by the $15 million exhibit investment was quenched by the most junior
employee in the whole park! 76

Certainly, visitors will notice that emotional labour is definitely a feature of the
Sea Worlds and Busch Gardens, and will also typically find it to be a feature of
Disney’s new Animal Kingdom.
In fact, Davis’s study of Sea World in San Diego makes explicit reference to emo-
tional labour as a feature of the park. She writes: ‘Sea World employees must be
friendly, cheerful, helpful, and always smiling to a vast throng of stroller-pushing
77
pedestrians.’ According to the park’s director of operations, supervisors check on
the behaviour of staff:

But they also check to see they’re outwardly greeting people, and they’re not just standing there.
Even just smiling isn’t enough of what we want. We want them to say things to people, and, as
people are exiting stadiums, say ‘Thanks for coming,’ ‘Have a nice day,’ ‘Anything I can do to help?’
‘Can I help you find something?’ 78

In the zoo setting, the possibility exists that emotional labour can take a distinc-
tive form, particularly in relation to environmentalist ethics and conservationist
appeals. On the one hand, emotional labour may be used to induce a sense of
guilt (in relation to environmental degradation, species extinction, etc.). On the
other hand, it may be used to induce a ‘feel good’ factor in the minds of visitors,
predicated on the proposition that by visiting the zoo and buying its merchan-
dise, they are participating, however indirectly, in the lofty ideals of species and
habitat protection.