Research Guides: Drama: Living Out (Winter 2020)

Living Out

LIVING OUT tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the Anglo lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers. Both want better lives for their children. The play explores what is the shared humanity between them…and what are the differences wrought by race, class and Ana's illegal status. Through Ana, we understand what it means to leave a child in another country to come here, and the potential cost of sacrificing one's own child in order to care for someone else's. Through Nancy, we understand the pressure on women today to "do it all" and the cost of making that choice. The play also looks at the prejudices and misconceptions between Anglos and Latinos. How do we make someone "the other"? What is the cost of doing so? The play is both outrageously funny and ultimately tragic.

eBook available from UCI Libraries

Virtual Tour of Living Out's Los Angeles
Take a short tour of the primary locations found in Living Out. This tour visits Huntington Park (where Ana and Bobby live), Vernon (where Bobby was potentially offered a job managing a building), Figueroa Street (where Bobby was jumped as a recent arrival to the country), Marguerita Avenua (where Nancy and Richard live), and Douglas Park (potentially the park where Ana takes baby Jenna everyday and meets Zoila and Sandra).

Week 1

This week, I encourage you to make use of database, AP Images. This resources has millions of photographs from the late 19th century to the present that have been either used for or collected by the Associated Press news service. I’d suggest doing an advanced search for something like “Salvador*” (this will search for any words that begin with these initial letters), limit the created date to something like 1996-1999, and the city location as “Los Angeles” (both of these limiters are in the search options section a bit farther down the page). Using this search, I located pictures of Salvadorans at naturalization ceremonies, getting ready to vote, etc. Change the search terms and other parameters to find all sorts of other pictures!

Week 2

Probably none of us can truly understand the difficulties and hardships a Central American immigrant goes through when coming to the United States. Northeastern University has partnered with various advocates and researchers to attempt to help others “experience” what this might be like by compiling actual stories of immigrants together into one “choose your own adventure” type of experience. Read a little and face some of the choices that one Salvadoran woman might have experienced when journeying to the U.S.: https://expmag.com/immigrant-experience/#yesenia-1 Perhaps living in “Yesenia’s” shoes for a few moments might affect how you approach this play.

Week 3

This week I want to make sure you’re all familiar with Vanderbilt Television News Archive. This is an excellent streaming video resource that generally has national (but some local) tv news from the 1960s to the present. Not everything is available online (this is particularly true of the much older materials), but many clips can be viewed online. I searched for “Huntington Park” (as a phrase search) and found this clip from 1990: https://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/broadcasts/577311 While this is earlier than our play, it could be an excellent resource to see buildings, neighborhoods, and also to hear how this neighborhood was being talked about as a place that was changing. You can narrow results to specific time periods, networks, etc. to find relevant materials for both visual references and more of an insight into people’s mindsets at that time.

Week 4

A quick update on the shifting US/El Salvador immigration policies:

When we talked at Jane’s house, one of the issues we briefly discussed was the constantly changing American policies related to Salvadoran immigrants. At that point in time, the TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for immigrants was expected to end in September, 2019; however, due to a court case challenging this it has been automatically renewed until January 2020 (see the section on Ramos v. Nielsen). This constant flux has real effects on real people, such as can be seen in this local Nebraska newspaper about Salvadoran immigrants attempting to renew their driver’s licenses. Think about how Ana, Sandra, and Zoila were discussing the difficulties of getting their license—this is real.

US policies are expected to continue to shift in the upcoming months, both because of Ramos v. Nielsen and because of a new US/El Salvador agreement. This agreement will make El Salvador accept asylum seekers who reach the US southern border to be automatically sent to El Salvador for asylum. Which is ironic because many of these people are probably seeking asylum to get away from El Salvador. A quick NPR story sums it all up here: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/29/765480416/el-salvador-ramps-up-security-to-stop-migrants

Los Angeles, 2003

New York City, 2003

Washington D.C., 2004

Washington Post, 9/15/2004

El Salvador & Immigration

El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations
El Salvador has had a tumultuous history—particularly from 1960-1992. There were several different political factions (extreme right and left) that would take over the government one after another. Many of the underlying issues that lead to the situation might be traced back to the poor economic conditions that partially resulted from the majority of land being held by few people, the crash of the coffee market (the major export of El Salvador), and their neighbor Honduras forcing tens of thousands of Salvadorans to return to their country thereby making a crowded land even more so and making it even more difficult to find work.

Beginning in the early 60s, the National Conciliation Party (PCN), formed of the military and the elite, were in charge. Throughout the 1970s, many of the elections were manipulated by the military. This dishonesty resulted in the emergence of guerrilla groups. Increasing violence escalated as some priests were killed by the right and the foreign minister was killed by the left.

In 1979 President Romero (of the PCN) was ousted by some “reform-minded” military members and created the Christian Democratic Junta party (left of center) with U.S. approval. This wasn’t enough for many of the far left groups, who began to unify together and strike at political targets (both people and buildings). As this continued to spiral, the U.S., attempting to keep political stability in the Western hemisphere and to keep Russian/Communist reach out of the hemisphere, gave increasing amounts of foreign aid to help stabilize the country. While this aid was primarily monetary in nature, it did allow the government in charge to use portions of it for military purposes (e.g., acquisition of weapons).

Conflict continued until peace accords were signed in 1992 when the conservative National Republican Alliance (ARENA) party took over. While peace generally came to El Salvador and the country began to make forward economic progress during the 90s, the Civil War had made a huge mark on the face of this country. There were still few job prospects and the economy has barely grown. As a result, many social and civil program have languished, particularly police/security.
Esta Esperanza
*streaming video*
In this documentary on post-war El Salvador, people from all over the country recount the nightmare of the twelve-year civil war that came to an end in 1992. The filmmaker and his crew traveled throughout the country interviewing people who had witnessed some of the grimmest events of the war. He goes to the village of Mozote where American-trained soldiers of the Salvadoran army massacred 800 citizens. Similar round ups of civilians took place in many areas and we meet survivors who recall the loss of their loved ones. In the mountains of Guazapa and FLMN guerrilla shows where he lived and how he fought for six years before being captured by government forces. A student describes what happened to him and his teachers at the University of Central America. Jesuit priests were leaders in the struggle for justice and often targeted for assassination by the government forces. In contrast to these testimonies, a member of the upper class complains that the church had become mixed up in politics. Although scars from the war remain vivid, people are rebuilding their lives. Farmland is being cleared and replanted, new construction is taking place in the city. Perhaps the most hopeful sign of all is that former enemies are working together and beginning to forgive one another.
In the Name of the People: El Salvador's Civil War
A documentary made by American journalists who secretly entered El Salvador in 1985 to record the atrocities of the war.

Countries and their Cultures: El Salvador
El Salvador is primarily a Catholic country. It has a somewhat formalized social structure, where people of lower social classes or positions are expected to obey and/or politely greet those of higher classes. Despite being a predominantly Catholic country, many couples will live together without formally being married until they have children. Women--particularly wives--are expected to obey men/their husbands. Similarly, children are expected to obey their parents. Both public shaming and hitting a child are both considered to be normal methods to get them to obey.

Because of the poor economy, the government has been unable to invest much in the country’s growth which has resulted in a very poor job market. Additionally, due to the 1992 peace accords calling for a complete amnesty for all involved in the Civil War, justice for many war crimes never occurred. The combination of these items—poorly funded and trained police, a populace with little hope of improving themselves due to such a poor economy, and many violent criminals remaining in society—has lead to the perfect storm to develop a vicious gang system.This violent atmosphere further hurts the economic sector (approximately 42% of business have reported being victims of crimes), which just continues the cycle.

Salvadoran gangs have become increasingly violent. In recent years, the Salvadoran Court system has ruled that they can be treated as domestic terrorists partially due to their increased attacks on police and military targets. To make matters worse, the criminal justice system is extremely weak and the police and prosecutors don’t cooperate much. As a result only about 5% of criminal cases are actually convicted in court. Since 2000 the government has tried several different programs to control the gangs. The first was the “mano dura” (heavy-handed) movement which swept large numbers of known-gang members, people displaying any gang tattoos, etc. into prison. While this was declared unconstitutional, the following year the “super mano dura” (extremely heavy handed) was enacted that took this took another level and resulted in cutting cell phone towers near prisons and other harsh attempts to control gangs. Due to this last issue, prisons are now extremely overcrowded.

Due to the large gang presence in El Salvador, many people don’t feel safe. There has been a noticeable amount of children who have stopped attending schools either due to entering gang life or because they don’t feel safe enough to actually go outside and walk to school.

In reaction to the gang violence and poor economy, many people have left the country and immigrated (whether legally or illegally) to the US to earn money to support their families. It’s estimated that approximately 20% of the country’s GDP comes from the money sent back to El Salvador.

Yesenia: Interactive "Immigrant Experience" of a Salvadoran Woman
This site is somewhat like a "choose-your-own-adventure" book where you will read about the immigration experience of an early 20s Salvadoran woman in the 80s. This is not necessarily the experience of a specific woman, but put together from the stories of many.
El Salvador: Civil War, Natural Disasters, and Gang Violence Drive Migration
It’s currently estimated that are 1.4 millions people of Salvadoran heritage living in the United States. Almost 700,000 of them are estimated to be unauthorized. The rate of immigration started to increase during the 1970s, drastically increased during the 80s, and has continued at a similar pace since then. Due to their poor economic standings and possibly not having permission to enter the U.S., many Salvadorans rely on crossing Central America and Mexico on foot in large caravans/groups of people. This crossing, particularly through Mexico, is generally very dangerous. Many women will be raped during this crossing.

US laws have changed throughout the past half century which has made gaining entry into the country specifically by Salvadorans to be easier at some points in time, and more difficult at others. Generally speaking, only a certain number of people are allowed permanent entry into the US through a lottery. Other ways of gaining entry are through family or employment sponsorship. Both of these are generally difficult for Salvadorans to obtain because of the money involved and/or the need for specialized education to make them candidates for employment sponsorship.

When Salvadorans fled their country in greater numbers in the 80s, most entered the USA without authorization. While the US normally makes allowances so that people fleeing violence can enter the country through special asylum procedures, the US government didn’t allow this to occur because they were specifically supporting the Salvadoran government in the war. It was felt that allowing asylum would be in direct opposition to other policies, so the individual person suffered due to large government decisions.

After a court case brought forward by a conglomeration of American Baptist Churches, US immigration policy was updated to allow for certain groups of people to be admitted under a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 1990 due to conflict or natural disasters. Salvadorans were the first group to be granted this status. While this helped many Salvadorans, TPS was temporary and was never intended to grant permanent resident status to people who entered the country while using it. In 1992 (when the Civil War ended), TPS was ended for Salvadorans, but quickly replaced with Deferred Enforced Departure, which maintained the temporary residency and work authorization until 1995. In 1997 the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act allowed many people who were in the country prior to 1990 to apply for a permanent green card—almost 200,000 Salvadorans applied for and received this.

TPS was again granted to Salvadorans in 2001 after two major earthquakes. This was regularly extended until 2019 when the Trump administration announced it would end in September 2019. Salvadorans in the US at that point in time will need to decide if they will leave the USA or stay here as unauthorized residents. Some Salvadorans might fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and therefore have this potential route to legally stay in the country.
Migrants Risk the Dangerous Trip to the U.S. because it's Safer than Staying Home
A PBS interview with two brothers who are attempting to immigrate to the United States by foot from Honduras. It mixes first-hand experiences by these two young men and other immigrants, with facts and historical background to contextualize them.

Motherhood

Maid in L.A.
Most Latinx immigrant women who provide domestic work in the US had no previous experience doing this work. It’s impossible to place all immigrant women into one class, but predominantly they came from at least middle class households in their home countries, as the cost of immigration (whether authorized or unauthorized) is quite expensive.

There are generally two different types of nannies – live-in and live-out. Live-in nannies literally live in the house with the family. Sometimes they have their own room and space; however, sometimes they do not and either need to share a room with the child(ren). Sometimes, even if they do have their own space, it’s not “their own” as they might not be able to decorate it or it might be so close to the child’s room that they’re essentially always on duty. Many live-in nannies will become extremely isolated whether due to their constant work, literal physical isolation of the house being located far away from other immigrants, or other similar reasons. Other issues revolve around food. Many live-in nanny contracts include “board” with “adequate” meals—but what comprised an adequate meal? Many of these newly arrived immigrant women want to eat food that will connect them to their homes, but their employer doesn’t provide that to them, and their schedule might not allow them to go to the store to get their own food. In other households there just isn’t much food as the employer is home so rarely they don’t think to stock the kitchen or they are overly frugal as they attempt to make ends meet.

Due to the limited social engagement with people outside of the employer's household, many nannies may actually be hindered in their quests to become US citizens because they were either unaware or unable to take advantage of amnesty provisions to help them become authorized residents. They might also have difficulty attending ESL classes (again due to schedule or geographic location of the employer), therefore possibly affecting their assimilation into the US.

Most women vastly prefer live-out positions, as their duties and hours are much more firmly prescribed. They are able to maintain their own lives, cook their own food, attend ESL classes, have community/friend/relationship time, etc..

Many immigrant nannies are quite critical of their employers—specifically the mother. Many feel that the mothers are selfish for working (when they aren’t in a dire financial position that requires they work) and that the mothers generally just don’t want to spend time with their kids. Many also disapprove of the parenting techniques (although they generally admire disciplinary tactics like time outs and limiting of tv/video game times when the parents actually choose to discipline the children) and feel the parents are too permissive. It has been expressed that parents allow their children to do whatever they want because they might feel guilty about not being there to actively raise them.
Creating Community: Latina Nannies in a West Los Angeles Park
Latinx nannies who work in affluent LA neighborhoods regularly congregate in neighborhood parks with the children they care for. This is an important time for them, not only to build relationships with other people, but also it acts as a “backstage” where they can act more natural and be themselves, rather than the persona they might need to put on in their employer’s house. Going to the park is also good for the nanny as it allows a more natural group care model to emerge, where one nanny might need some time to decompress and her friends/colleagues can easily watch the other’s child. Most nannies feel like the park space is “their own” and feel like their personal space is being violated if mother’s show up to the park (either with them or at a different time with the children).

Go Away... But Stay Close Enough
Many employers feel like they can’t communicate with their employees (and not just because of potential language barriers). Many feel guilty about hiring someone to work in their houses to either raise their children or clean their houses. One specific liberal female employer had a “liberal social conscience that militated against being ‘the boss’ to women of a lower social class and subordinate racial ethnic groups.” Generally speaking, most middle class employers are very adverse to confronting their employees about anything. Instead, they allow most behaviors/issues to continue unless it gets sever enough to refer to a specialist, like police or a lawyer.

Employers can also feel jealous of their employees. Because the nannies spend significantly more time with the children, it’s natural for the children to begin to love and express affection for the nannies. This can be very difficult for parents, particularly if the nanny witnesses momentous “firsts” in a child’s life, like their first steps, first words, etc. Some nannies have attempted to restage these moments and not let on that they’ve actually occurred before, out of consideration of the employer’s feelings and to try and keep jealousy low.

Close personal relationships between employer and employee have been credited as both negative and positive. For negative purposes, the close relationship can instill feelings of guilt and the need to help more, give more hours, provide unpaid labor, etc. by the employee. For positive purposes, the close relationship can be credited with more favorable wages, better working conditions, etc. Many nannies prefer an employer who will be more personable and considerate than one who pays better but is colder and distant. One interviewed nanny said the following about her ideal employer – “Someone who would talk with me about her family, who would ask questions about mine, about what I did in Mexico before I came here. Someone who would be considerate of my time.” Other nannies though have expressed that they don’t want to be friends with their employers and they want to maintain a social distance.

Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood
It’s ironic that our (Western) cultural expectations of motherhood has shifted to “intensive mothering” during the latter part of the 20th century, as this is a time that ever increasing women/mothers have entered the work place. Intensive mothering essentially centers on the child’s biological mother being the main care giver to the child, putting the child’s needs above the mother, lavishing large amounts of time on the child, being the central foundation to the child’s physical and intellectual development (which means needing to become an expert on these through reading many books by experts). The irony only increases as many women who work, but still attempt to engage in intensive mothering, normally have very little net financial gain through working since they normally need to pay for child care while they work. This model is cemented by the three hugely popular child-rearing books by Dr. Spock (Baby and Child Care), T. Berry Brazelton (Toddlers and Parents), and Penelope Leach (Your Baby and Child) – combined all three of these books have sold close to 42 million copies as of the late 90s.

Much of this differs radically from much of history, and from many other non-Western cultures, where child rearing is done communally. An individual mother is normally not solely responsible for her own child, but many people in a community (mothers, as well as older generations) come together to raise children so that the burden is shared by many and easier for all. Likewise, children (sometimes as early as age 2) in many other cultures will take on simple work burdens themselves that will actually help the community (e.g., help raise younger siblings, fetch water, prepare meals, clean) which is generally not seen in Western society until they are significantly older

Women in the Legal Profession
Female lawyers frequently find themselves in “no-win” situations where they are either thought to be too easy in cases if they show empathy, or they are a “bitch” if they show the same sort of cut-throated behavior that many male lawyers are expected to display. Other gender discrimination occurs for female lawyers who want to become a mother, as very little allowance is made for them to take the time to properly care for themselves and their child. This is frequently called the “mommy” track. Issues that arise might be that they are relegated to lesser cases/clients because it seems like they don’t have the commitment to the firm, they are unable to actually log billable hours, they are put behind in the timeline to potentially become a partner in the firm, etc. Even though work dispensation to alleviate time issues is theoretically available to most lawyers, few avail themselves of it because of the fear that they’ll be viewed unfavorably. Female lawyers face higher levels of stress than their male counterparts, thanks in part to the above.

One study has found that female lawyers who quickly returned to work after having a child were actually more likely to become a partner in their firm because it was seen as dedication and commitment to the overall goal of the firm. Surveys of female graduates of elite law schools show that they actually enjoy attempting to balance high level legal work with managing a family; however, some think this might apply only to these elite lawyers who normally have very lucrative salaries that enable them to easily hire at-home work to help manage their families and homes.
The Horrible Conflict Between Biology and Women Attorneys
Combines personal accounts with research to look at the difficulties women have in the legal profession.