Individual tolerance of poor quality conditions In this section we present tolerance of, rather than voicing dissatisfaction with, poor quality conditions in the form of low pay, long hours and sex discrimination. Clergy and actors accepted or accommodated their low pay in the context of occupational ideology. The underlying purpose of the clerical stipend is to be merely ‘adequate for clergy to discharge their duties without undue financial anxiety’ (Central Stipends Authority, 2013: 1; see similar understandings in the Methodist Church, Connexional Allowance Committee, 2014). The majority of clergy shared this view, although financial anxiety was certainly a reality for many, with four interviewees indicating they had needed to apply for Church hardship funds. While the provision of tied housing was seen as compensation for lower pay, there was little choice and housing was often unsuitable and expensive to run, bringing difficulties in terms of the real value of pay, particularly in the case of this single mother: ‘I remember being in floods of tears when I got my first heating bill, it was like the entire month’s salary went on one heating bill.’ (CofE A1). For all clergy interviewed, the stipend was regarded as facilitating rather than rewarding the long hours worked. All accepted the connection of their pay with the ideology of God, as this quote captures: ‘to pay you to be God’s person in a particular place’ (CofE, M). While recognising that the pay could be difficult to live on, another interviewee related this directly to acceptance of disadvantage: ‘I guess I feel part of my calling is actually about living simply that others may simply live’ (Methodist, F). Despite the inadequacy of remuneration, ideology reframes disadvantage: remuneration is simply enough ‘to keep you up and running so you’re free to minister’ (CofE, J). Silence is a consequence of conditions not perceived as legitimate to challenge because of the ideological constructs brought to the job. The parallel analysis for actors has been conceptualised as ‘psychic income’, where pay can be substituted partially or completely for perceptions of self-fulfilment in artistic practice
churches they’re hard to meet… my diary gets incredibly full. I get ridiculously tired. And I’m nowhere near meeting their expectations. (Methodist, V) Performer’s reflections on attitudes to working time also supported this assessment and the general attitude of respondents that acting as artistic endeavour was distinct from real work (Dean 2012): Acting’s not really a job, it’s a love. That’s why I feel that directors, whoever, in the profession take advantage of that. Sometimes you’ll be in a rehearsal and if they want to go over time…I will stay and let them get away with stuff and I think that’s why they will push you because most people will just see it in that sense - that you have to give up your life for it, kind of thing. (Performer, M1) Another pointed example of underpinning (and for employers, enabling) ideology is this quote from an experienced performer: ‘And certainly the most enjoyable jobs I’ve ever done really [were] for no money whatsoever...Because the job of acting is an artistic endeavour when you’re doing it purely...and money shouldn’t be involved.’ (Performer, E3). Variations on this ‘pure’ example of silent sacrifice were repeated by other performers and was also echoed in the tenor of clergy interviews. Findings around the occupational ideology of art connect directly to clergy in their view of themselves as ‘saviours of souls’. We’ve got a calling, a vocation, that the Almighty has asked us to do something in particular which…is joining…in God’s mission for the world…It includes the
by an employer association official: ‘And in terms of influencing those decision-making processes, I mean you run into all of the arguments from writers and producers and directors about their artistic creativity and the right to make the appropriate decisions in the interests of the story.’ Thus ideology informs the mutually reinforcing dynamics that constrain voice (Dean 2015: 50). Therefore, although the barriers to indirect voice differ in kind for women performers than for women clergy, engagement with the union is also inhibited by an occupational frame of reference which promotes tolerance to disadvantage. Such tolerance is developed within a context which exacts, in Hirschman’s (1970) deceptively minimal phrase, ‘penalty for exit’. Loyalty as penalty for exit in response to poor quality conditions All except one clergy interviewee were adamant that they found their work satisfying (see similar findings in Bagilhole, 2003 and McDuff, 2001), directly related to the ideological context of their occupation. The concepts of service, duty and cure of souls enabled both tolerance and satisfaction and commonly overrode or reframed dissatisfaction, silencing potential voice. If God had ‘called’ the person to serve, challenging conditions must be seen as part of that call. Acceptance of a Christian conviction requiring accommodation meant the majority of interviewees did not feel able, or want, to challenge the discrimination they experienced. Within these tensions can also be seen the high cost of disloyalty-through-exit: ‘There have been times…when I really wanted to walk away…yet because I’ve known it was a commission from God, I’ve not been able to do that’ (Methodist, A). They cannot exit because to do so would deny their very essence; recalling, if in more elemental terms, Hoffmann’s (2009) study of miners noted earlier. The majority of interviewees had felt the first calling to be ordained very early on in their lives, for all but one before the age of
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