“Nije za starije od 40 godina”: aspekti ženskog rada u turizmu Istre iz etnografske perspektive

This paper explores aspects of female work in tourism in Istria, one of the most touristic regions in Croatia and Europe. On the basis of several interviews with employees in a number of typical jobs in tourism, who were employed in coastal cities at the time of the research, several categories emerged, which limit, but also make the experience of working in the tourism sector gender-specific. The first category is flexibility, which is numerical, functional and refers to adapting payment to the employees. The second category that brings work closer to the gender experience is the interplay of dynamics, relationships and decisions that can push employees towards an aestheticized and eroticized “service landscape” with, in their words, the consequent discomfort, but also putting up with situations ranging from “staring” to sometimes even openly chauvinistic remarks. The third category concerns the physical experience of menstruation, which, for some of the interviewed employees, has a significant impact on the ability to perform intensive work tasks such as those imposed by seasonal tourism.