Watched, but Moving: Platformization of Beauty Work and Its Gendered Mechanisms of Control
Abstract
Women gig workers face unique challenges in on-demand platforms as gendered aspects of class, caste, and labor participation intersect with moments of control experienced on the job. Through in-depth interviews with 19 beauty workers on on-demand home service platforms, we explore how the platformization of informal beauty work in India has ruptured dominant socio-cultural structures of control that have traditionally shaped women's mobility and access to work. This paper maps the ways in which women beauty gig workers experience and are impacted by algorithmic and bureaucratic management practices prevalent in the gig economy, in the context of home service platforms in Bangalore. We find that platform control impacts lives in myriad ways, beyond the conditions of work. Women workers negotiate their identities and sense of agency through the visibility afforded by platform control mechanisms. Yet, despite these subversions, being on a platform does not fundamentally change the socio-cultural logic that restricts women's lives in India. These mechanisms work to entrench power asymmetries between customers and workers, as well as maintain them between the platform and the worker.
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HomeServers introduced a Gold Status incentive system, rewarding workers who complete over 60 jobs per month and maintain a 4.8 or higher average rating.
“HomeServers introduced a ' Gold Status ' incentive system, rewarding workers who complete over 60 jobs per month and maintain a 4.8 or higher average rating (Anjali Anwar et al., 2021).”
From Socio‐technical issues in the platform‐mediated gig economy: A systematic literature review: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper (2024) · cites this paper as Anjali Anwar et al., 2021
Indian beauty workers benefited from the centralized control of platforms when their families were more comfortable with them working in strangers' homes because their families trusted the platform to monitor them.
“Indian beauty workers benefited from the centralized control of platforms when their families were more comfortable with them working in strangers' homes because their families trusted the platform to monitor them (Anjali Anwar et al., 2021).”
From Socio‐technical issues in the platform‐mediated gig economy: A systematic literature review: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper (2024) · cites this paper as Anjali Anwar et al., 2021
Uber can immediately block drivers based on a single negative review without giving them an opportunity to appeal.
“Uber can immediately block drivers based on a single negative review without giving them an opportunity to appeal (Anjali Anwar et al., 2021).”
From Socio‐technical issues in the platform‐mediated gig economy: A systematic literature review: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper (2024) · cites this paper as Anjali Anwar et al., 2021
The lack of transparency of the rating and review systems leads workers to doubt the fairness of job assessments.
“The lack of transparency of the rating and review systems also leads workers to doubt the fairness of job assessments (Anjali Anwar et al., 2021).”
From Socio‐technical issues in the platform‐mediated gig economy: A systematic literature review: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper (2024) · cites this paper as Anjali Anwar et al., 2021
Cites
Algorithms at Work: The New Contested Terrain of Control
Kellogg, K. C., Valentine, M. A., & Christin, A. (2020) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/annals.2018.0174 · Cited by 2,732 · see citing works
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Langer, M., & Landers, R. N. (2021) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.106878 · Cited by 338 · see citing works
Dedema, M., & Rosenbaum, H. (2024) · Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/asi.24868 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
“Table 3 shows that gig economy research has become very international, while studies in India, USA, South Africa, and China are the majority.”
InfluentialThe Digital Boss: Algorithms, Housekeeping Apps, and the Digitalization of Domestic Work in Colombia
Mantilla-León, L. C., Jaimes Rodríguez, I., & Maldonado Castañeda, O. J. (2026) · Critical Sociology · doi:10.1177/08969205241304790 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Anjali Anwar, I., Pal, J., & Hui, J.
- Affiliations
- Independent Researcher, Bangalore, India
- Microsoft Research (India) (IN)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
- Published
- 2021-01-05
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- CSCW3
- Pages
- 1-20
- ISSN
- 2573-0142 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3093009849
- Cited by
- 77
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 5
- FWCI
- 16.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Legal and Labor Studies
- Keywords
- gig economy, platform work, beauty work, platformization, algorithmic management, bureaucratic management, women's mobility, gendered labor, caste, class, worker agency, power imbalance, Bangalore
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