The Faces Behind - Libro documental

The Faces Behind

Madame Alexander’s Dolls: ®

A Dominican Labor Experience Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

The Faces Behind Madame Alexander´s ® Dolls: A Dominican Labor Experience

New York, NYC © Proyecto : “Para que no se olviden” All rights reserved. No part of this book may be partially or totally reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without permission from its publisher, Cayena Publications.

Title: The Faces Behind Madame Alexander´s ® Dolls: A Dominican Labor Experience.

Authors: Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris Cover Design: Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux Graphic Design: Nelson Quiroga R. ISBN: 978-0-9801667-3-6 Copyright Registration Number: TXu 1-670-122 © Cayena Publications, 2010 Contact Information: www.cayenapublications.com E-mail: cayenapublications@yahoo.com 1. Title/ 2. Dominican History/ 3. Dominican-Latin American History/ 4. Dominican Labor Experience/ 5. Dominican American Research/ Testimonials / 6. Memoirs.

Dedication To the Dominican Immigrants workers of Madame Alexander´sŽ Dolls Company, Inc. For theirs life of dedications to create beauty and happiness for children and adults around the world.

Julia PeĂąa and Family

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

The Faces Behind Madame Alexander´s ® Dolls: A Dominican Labor Experience

Acknowledgements Thank you for yours support and dedications to: Elizabeth Figueroa Debralee Santos Sandy Westcott Fenix Nikauris Arias John Swauger Alex Guerrero

Lucia Toribio and Husband

TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION

13 17

CHAPTER I DATA GATHERING PROCESS:

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CHAPTER II THE COST OF GLOBALIZATION TO U.S. LABOR MARKET AND DOMINICAN MIGRATION Immigration From The Dominican Republic The Us Labor Market

25 26 29

CHAPTER III THE MADAM ALEXANDER´S® DOLLS COMPANY, INC. AND ITS CREATION. The Creation of Beautiful Dolls at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. Work at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. CHAPTER IV IMMIGRANT DOLL MAKERS: STUDY FINDINGS The Faces Behind The Dolls: Immigrant Workers Culture Repertoire: Pride and Loyalty; Important Stabilizing Factors Adjustment to work and the Core Society Beauty and (Women): Cultural Globalization Reworking Identities: Immigrant Doll Makers Working For A Global Market

33 36 37 41 44 45 47 50 54 55

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 62 Bibliography 67 CONTRIBUTORS

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Adelaida Jenkins and Husband

“All of us Dominican [women] have put our culture on the map since each doll carries within itself the hands of the many Dominican workers that have made all that beauty possible.”

“We [women] feel and maintain the essence of what Madame Alexander is in each doll.

“We are female artists.”

Adelaida Jenkins

Mercedes Marte and herChildren

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

PREFACE

“Para Que No Se Olviden” is a publication of the Cayena’s Project1 which began years ago. Its aim is to document the experiences of Dominican immigrants in the United States. It is an effort to acknowledge the contributions of Dominican men and women who, through their work and dignity, have brought joy and happiness to thousands of people worldwide.

The Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc.,2 was chosen as the study site for many reasons. This factory has been a pioneer in employing immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, and particularly newcomers from the Dominican Republic.

In that sense, the factory is a living testament of the rich history of the many trajectories immigrants undertake in pursuit of the “American Dream.”

We thank Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. for their support of the project. Special thanks to Dennis Palmer, Executive Director, who has worked at Madame Alexander for 15 years and who helped made this study possible3.

Our sincere gratitude is expressed to all the participants4 in the research, who by delving into the historic memory of Dominican immigration, helped bring into fruition another facet of the “Para Que No Se Olviden” project. The participants are ten women 1- Cayena’s Publication main objective is to articulate the experiences of Dominican immigrants in the United States from a socio-historic perspective. Themes related to the cultural, social, political, and economic development of Dominican women and men are explored, examined and articulated.

2- We were able to get support and collaboration from the staff at Madame Alexander’s® Dolls Company, Inc. who provided valuable insights regarding the role of Dominican immigrant workers at the factory. They also gave permission to use photos from their collections and catalogues.

3- Mr. Dennis Palmer also functioned as a participant in the research project. He clarified important points and provided data for the research.

4- All the participants signed a consent form for the interviews.

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The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

and one man who have worked for decades at the Company: Julia Peña ; Lucia Toribio; Merecedes Marte; Lucina Figueroa; Altagracia Villa; Rosa Gamboa; MaríaPérez; Adelaida Jenkins; Elvira Fabián; Guillermina Mora, and Ruby Ortega. With the exception of Rosa Gamboa, who is of Ecuadorian descent, all the interviewees are Dominicans. Miss Gamboa was included at the request of her co-workers who insisted that she qualified as an honorary Dominican due to working at the factory among Dominicans for over 30 years.

We would like to also thank other people who helped made the project possible: Professor Ana Ofelia Rodríguez for her role as an emissary between our team and the factory and for her unconditional support of this project; Dr. Dolores Fernández, who, upon visiting with the factory workers, lovingly wrote a story and dedicated it to the workers; Elizabeth Figueroa, for translating the interviews from Spanish to English; Freddy Vargas, director of Vargas Films, for making the documentary base on the research conducted at Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., Sandra Harris, Associate Vice President of Columbia University’s Office of Government and Public Relations; the Office of Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat; Saint Francis College; the Commissioner of Dominican Culture Carlos Sánchez. We also thank all those who in some way or another have made it possible to hear the voices that have been silenced for many years, “Para Que No Se Olviden” [So They Would Not Be Forgotten].

Thanks to all in the name of history.

Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux, “Para Que No Se Olviden” Project

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Rosa Gamboa

Altagracia Villa

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

INTRODUCTION

Examining the experiences of immigrant workers at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., requires determining the impact of globalization on the restructuring of manufacturing in New York City. There is abundant scholarly literature on different aspects of globalization, including economic restructuring at the center and periphery (Castells, 1977; Portes and Guarnizo, 1991; Safa, 1981; Sassen, 1988; Noyelle and Stanback, 1985; Smith, 1987; Canclini, 1989; Basch, Glick Schiller and Blanc, 1994; Foner, 2001). The nationalization and transnationalization of Dominicans also received a great deal of attention (Vicioso, 1976; Perez, 1981; Duarte and Cortes, 1982; Gurak and Kritz, 1982; Canelo, 1982; Grasmuck, 1985; Torres-Saillant, 1996; Georges, 1990; Duany, 1990; Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991; Portes and Guarnizo, 1991; Guarnizo, 1994; Guarnizo and Smith, 1998; Torres-Saillant and Hernández, 1998; Itzigsohn, 1999; Sagas and Molina, 2004). The immigration process from the Dominican Republic and cultural changes brought about by the emergence of the “world village,” “network society” and the global city phenomenon are also studied.

We hope this study contributes to the literature on the impact of globalization on culture and on Dominican women workers in the United States. Limited research alludes to the cultural transformations brought about by the process of globalization (Yudice, 1993 and 1995; Sarlo, 1994; Canclini, 1989, 1995, 1996; Subercaseaus, 1996). The Levin Institute (2010), in their publication on their Brief on Culture and Globalization, discusses “the [creative destruction] impact that the worldwide expansion of the capitalist model is having on the most precious aspects of …identity” (The Levin Institute, 2010). They posit that: “For many people, their own cultural values are too important to put a price tag on, and no destruction can be considered “creative.” But they also see globalization as “a profoundly enriching process, opening minds to new ideas, experiences, and strengthening the finest universal values of humanity” (The Levin Institute, 2010). They 17

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

advise that: “Readers [of the Brief on Globalization and Culture] should try to think of cultural issues pertaining to globalization in terms of conflicting values, and decide for themselves what aspects of globalization may be positive, negative, or truly indifferent to cultures around the world.” The impacts of globalization may certainly be diverse, and, perhaps more than it has been realized in the scholarly literature.

Globalization certainly has negative consequences. Canclini (1995), for instance, speaks about the multicultural conflicts caused by globalization. For this scholar, globalization is the process of articulating and recomposing fractions/ parts/divisions/ segments of the world. He posits that differences and inequalities (including those of cultures) are reordered without being suppressed, for this reason multiculturalism inevitably is an indissoluble theme of globalization. For Canclini, globalization is like an encompassing opened horizon, which can undermine the hegemonic tendencies of urbanizing and industrializing cultures (Canclini, 1995).

Some studies focus on the Americanization of different cultures because globalization is often equated with the imposition of United States culture worldwide; cultural imperialism. Research has focused on the impact of globalization on music and fashion, widening spatial relations; availability of more products from different places; technology; the importation of images from other cultures; images of beauty and the cosmetic industry; tourism; the environmental impact of production; communication; and increasing consumerism among children and youth. In “The Children’s Culture Industry and Globalization: Shifts in the Commodity Character of Toys,” Ferguson (2006) talks about the shift in the form of toys which stimulates consumerism among children. Jean (2002) contends that globalization made it possible for the world to be wired and plugged into the entertainment and programming systems of core (or advanced) societies (countries) creating the mass marketing of culture.

The study of dolls in a New York City factory shows that globalization has both positive and negative implications. It examines and articulates the working of globalization locally (glocalization), and on the individual level. In terms of the individual, Arnett (2002) has contended that globalization leads to uncertainty and confusion because people have to adapt to both the local and global culture, in creating a bicultural identity. Hermans and Dimaggio (2007) argue that this identity is rooted in the individual’s own culture yet is attuned to the global situation; people may develop a hybrid identity combining elements of the global and the local. Appadurai (1990) and 18

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

Raggatt (2000) suggest that people live on the interfaces of culture rather than mixing different ones.

This study of immigrant women workers in a doll factory in New York City from 1969 to 20105 raises many interesting questions about the above issues. To begin with, the case study of Dominican women doll makers provides the opportunities to inquire about capital recomposition. Similarly, it allows us to understand the role Dominican women have played in the newly down-graded sector of manufacturing, and how their labor has helped to maintain the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. in the heart of New York City, when many similar companies decided to outsource their operations to other countries or were forced to close entirely.

The study also sheds some light on the experiences of Dominican immigrant women who began a new life when they emigrated to the United States. Many relocated from small towns in the Dominican Republic to one of the largest metropolis of the world. Their voices and stories highlight how the world economic system mobilized, shaped and transformed the life of individuals and particular labor markets. Some of these women have worked at the same factory for over thirty years. It is important to record their experiences because these workers could possibly be the very last laborers of Madame Alexander’s Dolls factory due to the continue impact of globalization and the search for cheaper labor.

5- This study examines the trajectory of immigrants who have worked at the same factory for over 20 years.

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Lucina Figueroa

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

CHAPTER I: DATA GATHERING:

Data for the study were gathered through in depth interviews, observations, and secondary data sources. Interviews were conducted with twelve factory workers: nine Dominican women, an Ecuadorian woman, a Dominican man, and a Jamaican man (who is the Executive Director of the company). However, the focus of this work mostly examines and tells the story of Dominican women workers, which began in the 1960s, with their immigration to the United States.

All participants in the study are currently employed at the Madame Alexander Doll’s factory. The participants were: Julia Peña, Dominican, working for 41 years; Lucia Toribio, Dominican, working for 37 years; Lucina Figueroa, Dominican, working for 35 years; Mercedes Marte, Dominican, working for 35 years; Altagracia Villa, Dominican, working for 32 years; Maria Pérez, Dominican, working for 30 years; Rosa Gamboa, Ecuadorian, working for 30 years; Adelaida Jenkins, Dominican, working for 25 years; Ruby Ortega, Dominican, working for 21 years; Elvira Fabian, working for 20 years; and Guillermina Mora, Dominican, working for 17 years. The interviews were conducted from 2007 to 2009: Fabian, Elvira, 2007; Villar, Altagracia, 2007; Figueroa, Lucina, 2007; Gamboa, Rosa, 2007; Pena, Julia, 2007; Toribio, Lucia, 2007; Marte, Mercedes, 2007; Ortega, Ruby, 2007; Mora, Guillermina, 2009; and Jenkins, Adelaida, 2009.

Mr. Dennis Palmer, the Executive Administrator, was also interviewed as a company representative. He helped to clarified information gathered through the interviews and provided an overview of the historical background of the factory.

The focus of this investigation is on Dominican immigrant women working at the Madam Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, despite the fact that a Dominican male and an Ecuadorian worker were part of the study.

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The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

The questionnaire designed for this study consisted of open-ended questions, which allow the participants to share their “lived experiences,” as both, factory workers and as immigrants. The questionnaire also provided us with the opportunity to gather data about the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company Inc., the immigration experience, and the contribution of their employment to the Dominican Diaspora. The participants were asked about working conditions during their tenure at the factory; their first task on the assembly line; their employment date; their relationship with the work process; their experiences working with dolls; and how they were able to obtain this job.

The interviews lasted between one to two hours; some were conducted at the factory, enabling researchers to observe the work site and the participants’ job performance and interactions with supervisors as well as each other. Other interviews were done at the participants’ homes. Home visits provided a more relaxed atmosphere, facilitating rapport with, and engagement, of participants.

We sought to capture the vast and important experiences of Dominican immigrant women. This is the analysis and presentation of the findings of a research project that began over three years ago in a local factory located in New York City. By focusing on the experience of Dominican immigrant women workers in a factory, this study contributes to the literature on the role of gender in the process of globalization. We posit that the work that these women continue to do today in New York City positions them in both the local and the global market. In addition, we contend that the identities of these women have been transformed through nationalization and transnationalization.

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Elvira Fabian

Ruby Ortega

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

CHAPTER II—THE COST OF GLOBALIZATION TO U.S. LABOR MARKET AND DOMINICAN MIGRATION

New York was once the center of manufacturing industry in the United States, and perhaps in the entire world. It attracted millions of immigrants to its factories (Cross, 1988). Changes starting in the 1960s have, however, altered the economic structure of New York City, recomposing the manufacturing center, and turning the city into a control center for transnational firms and banks (Sassen, 1991). Previous research indicates that the decline in the manufacturing industry resulted from a crisis of accumulation requiring both the re-composition of capital and also the re-composition of labor (Safa, 1981; Sassen, 1991). A search for cheap labor in different countries (such as Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and China) became an important factor in the recomposition of the worldwide market. Given that finding alternative labor often meant facilitating the movement of people from the periphery to the center, and at the same time, moving capital to the periphery (Sassen, 1988). In other words, while important parts of the manufacturing industry relocated abroad, immigration to the United States continued at a steady rate (Sassen, 1991). Economic polarization was apparent in the downgrading of wage jobs, an increased supply of low-wage labor, and new work patterns (Sassen, 1991). The dismantling of the capital-labor relation would fundamentally change the way production was organized (Sassen, 1991). The globalization of manufacturing necessitated farming out or outsourcing functions to the periphery (third world countries), and at the time, the reimportation of products to the center (in this case to the United States) (Sassen, 1991). Women played a pivotal role in the re-composition process given their docility and vulnerability. Men experienced high-unemployment rates. Both sexes became potential candidates for immigration, but women labor was highly preferred (Safa, 1981; Sassen, 1982; Grasmuck, 1985; Pessar, 1987).

In “The Price of Globalization,” Doll (2009) defines globalization as “the mixture of individual national economies into the international economic environment 25

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

via participation in cross-border trade, use of foreign direct investment and exchange of capital…” and we would also add labor flows or immigration. The interaction between the global and the local has received a great deal of attention in the scholarly literature (Castells, 1977; Safa, 1981; Sassen, 1988; Smith, 1987; Canclini, 1989), as has the internationalization of labor, which plays an important role in the process of globalization. Massey, Alarcon and Gonzalez (1990) suggest that: in “receiving societies, migration stems from economic segmentation [re-composition in the periphery] which creates a class of unstable, poorly paid jobs with limited opportunities for advancement.” For Canclini (1987), immigration creates social spaces [at both the core and periphery], and has the potential for the development of hybrid cultures locally and worldwide. Sassen (1982) posits that immigration…[provides] labor for the low-wage service and manufacturing jobs that service both the expanding, highly specialized service sector and the high-income lifestyles of those employed in the specialized, expanding service sector.” Sassen (1998) also points out that “immigrants become agents actively engaged in rehabilitating both spatial and economic sectors of the city” through the establishment of immigrant communities.

Workers entering the United States’ labor market after the 1960s were greatly affected by the globalization of factories and the consequent reduction of work availability (Fainstein, 1983). While many lost their source of employment in the garment industry, others held tightly to the scarce jobs in the few restructured factories that remained (Feagin, 1987). Such was also the case of workers at Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., in East Harlem.

IMMIGRATION FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Since the 1960s “the Dominican Republic has consistently ranked among the top ten source countries for United States immigrants” (Hernández and Batiz, 2003). New York City, and specifically Washington Heights, has served as a primary site of entry and of establishment for many Dominican families. The Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., is located in the heart of the Harlem area in Manhattan. Approximately 555,000 Dominicans lived in the five boroughs in 2000 (Hernández and RiveraBatiz, 2003). Washington Heights is historically known as the enclave community for Dominican immigrants. According to the 2000 Census, this area’s population was 208,414, and was composed of 74.1% Hispanics, 13.6% non-Hispanic whites, 8.4% non-Hispanic blacks, and 2.1% Asians. The 2000 Census indicated that Dominicans 26

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

were the immigrant group with the greatest population increase in New York City during the previous decade. Data from the 2000 Census indicate that 80 percent of the 98,427 Hispanic residents were first generation Dominicans (US Census, 2000).

Today, Washington Heights is largely composed of Dominican immigrants or their descendant. Consequently, this is the reason why many people call the area Quisqueya6 Heights. It’s common to hear Spanish spoken on the streets, to find food and products native to the Dominican Republic, or to catch the sounds of an upbeat merengue or a bittersweet bachata7. For Dominicans, Washington Heights has been and is the most important cultural, economic, historical, and political center outside of the Dominican Republic. In Washington Heights, Dominican immigrants have achieved economic, political and social goals. They own many businesses, and have founded non-profit organizations that provide art and culture, education, sports, health and social services.

The migration experience of Dominicans to the United States has been marked with a tenor of intensity and difficulty, mainly due to the political and economic instability in the Dominican Republic and importation of Dominican labor to the United States. When the country became part of the United States’ capitalist orbit, Dominicans were destined to emigrate to the core country; a process characteristic of globalization from above and transnationalization.

The first great migration started in 1961, after the execution of the dictator Trujillo who governed the country for 32 years. During his reign, very few people were allowed to leave.

After his death, and the subsequent fall of the first constitutional government, the country was immersed in political and social chaos that led to the 1965 civil uprising, known as the April Revolution. It was during this tumultuous time that the second United States’ military occupation of the Dominican Republic took place. The United States entered the island with 49,000 Marines aboard the ‘Intrepid’ ship, acting on the premise that the Dominican Republic could otherwise fall into the hands of leftist groups, who were thought to be admirers of Fidel Castro’s recently inaugurated revolutionary government. As part of its negotiations with the new Dominican government, installed after the civil uprising and led by Joaquin Balaguer8, the American government promoted immigration to the United States. Thousands of Dominicans left the country. Many become cheap labor for factories located in New York City.

6 Quisqueya is the Native American name of the Dominican Republic. The Spaniards called it Hispanola.

7 Merengue and Bachata are two traditional forms of music from the Dominican Republic.

8 Joaquin Balager was a president of the Dominican Republic for over many years.

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The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

The first group of Dominicans to arrive in the United States included many people who were against the regime, mostly young revolutionaries or “leftists” who participated in the armed conflict. At that time, northern Manhattan’s community already included residents who had migrated from several Latin American countries, specifically Puerto Rico and Cuba, the latter arriving as a result of the Cuban Revolution. It should also be pointed out that during those years the United States was experiencing political and social unrest and upheaval of its own, with the Vietnam War, the death of President Kennedy and Malcolm X, and the civil rights movement.

This was the political and social reality that recently arrived Dominicans faced in the United States, leaving behind a homeland seemingly consigned to an uncertain fate, and arriving also at a reality of disorder and conflict. And still, in practical terms, their arrival in the United States coincided with the need for labor in the war and manufacturing industries.

Recent arrivals quickly incorporate into the work force, and remained in those industries for generations. For these reasons, many families created economic niches, which helped other immigrants who arrived later.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Dominican community continued growing due to the consistent influx of new arrivals; “immigration has been and will be the driving force of growth in the Dominican population” (MPI, 2004). For some of these newer waves of immigrants arriving in the city, Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., was a source of employment. These work patterns occurred in many immigrant enclaves throughout the world, and certainly in the United States, in which an ethnic immigrant group is identified with a specific employment industry. Upon arrival, Dominican workers met employees from different ethnicities including Jews, Russians, Puerto Ricans, African-Americans, among others. Dominican workers shared common work and immigration experiences with these other immigrant workers; they also learned about their cultures, histories, trained and acquired new work skills. The workers at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., were participants and witnesses to this history. They lived through and participated in one of the most significant historical periods of United States in the 20th Century

Current data provided by Hernández and Rivera-Batiz (2003) study indicate that Dominicans in New York State had a per-capita income lower than the average for the United States in 2000. Dominicans also have the youngest median age when compared to other 28

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

immigrant groups. The proportion of female-headed household is substantially higher among Dominicans. Dominicans also have lower income than other immigrants and a lower labor force participation rate than that of the overall US population. There has been a decline in labor force participation among Dominican men residing in New York City since 1980, while that of Dominican women has remained somewhat stable since 1980 (Hernández and Rivera-Batiz, 2003) THE US LABOR MARKET

The globalization of production caused changes all over the world leading to the transnationalization of the work force because increased mobility of capital, affected the formation of labor markets and the regulation of the global labor force (Sassen, 1991). The reorganization of production and dispersion of economic functions made access to labor markets from the periphery possible (Sassen, 1991) facilitating the process of immigration of thousands of people to the United States.

The arrival of Dominican immigrants to New York City was characterized by the universal search for economic security provided by employment opportunities mainly in the manufacturing industry. For these particular workers, many of whom came from rural areas, industrial work was a specialized activity. They did not have the necessary skills and training to work in the industry. The language barrier also made it more difficult for them to communicate and to understand instructions necessary to acquire needed skills..

Research participants were asked about their decision to immigrate to the United States. Common responses were: “I came to better my life. And I have felt fine here.” Another person stated: “Well, to better [myself], and “to be able to help my family in the Dominican Republic.” The desire to overcome economic obstacles, to “better” oneself, to find a way to help others, and of doing so through the acquisition of new skills (in manufacturing, in the stylistic work and tailoring, etc.) was a theme throughout the interviews.

Another change in the labor market, which would later affect the work force participation of Dominicans and other workers in the manufacturing industry, was the recomposition of the sector. Data provided by Anderson (2001) indicated that in 1969, manufacturing accounted for 28 percent of both national and regional employment, but by 1999, its share of total employment had fallen to 14 percent at the national level and 11 percent in the region. He also points out that between 1969 and 1999, manufacturing 29

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

employment in the New York-New Jersey region plunged 51 percent, a drop that far exceeded the 8.4 percent decline in manufacturing jobs nationwide (Anderson, 2001).

However, many immigrant, men and women, arrived to New York with big dreams. Some of these dreams were to achieve financial mobility, through access to the U.S. labor market; to improve the livelihood of their family members in New York, as well as those who still resided in the Dominican Republic; and to eventually be able to retire to their home country.

Not surprising, Dominican immigrant women found work in the manufacturing industry.

Women are the preferred workers in this industry because it is assumed that they have sewing skills, which traditionally was implied as a housewife quality, but also because their labor was cheaper than that of men.

These immigrant women working in the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., became highly specialized in the skills required to perform the beautiful, and detailed, work depicted in each handmade doll, which they designed and created for the company. As time passed, and as they became experts in these specific dolls, they added a Caribbean “flavor” to the product’s form, shape, and style creating unique dolls, which now have a combination of tenderness, beauty, femininity, elegance, artistry, and most importantly, a human touch. These characteristics can be observed in all the dolls, particularly in the Latin American collection, which includes the Dominican Doll (See Dominican Doll)9.

9- The Dominican Doll was selected in 1986 to be part of Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc.International Collection. It is the beautiful doll used on the back cover and inside the book.

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Guillermina Mora

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

CHAPTER III—THE MADAM ALEXANDER´S® DOLLS COMPANY INC. AND ITS CREATION. THE MADAM ALEXANDER´S® DOLLS COMPANY, INC.

The case study site highlights what happened to some US factories as a result of globalization. During the second decade of the 20th Century, specifically in 1923, Beatrice Alexander Behrman, a Russian woman, opened the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., a doll factory, in Manhattan, New York. When first established, the factory was located in the Toy District, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In 1955, the factory was moved to its current location at 615 West 131st Street, in Harlem10. Madame Alexander, as Beatrice Behrman was internationally known, established her company with some “$1,500-$1,600 from her savings,” (Dennis Palmer, 2008). Madame Alexander had a passion for dolls because of her father, a Russian immigrant, who operated the first doll hospital in New York, and also owned a doll store, in Brooklyn (New York Times, Business Section, 2008).

At the time, most of the dolls children played with were made of porcelain, rags, and clothes. Thus, at the hospital, her father mostly restored porcelain dolls with broken limbs, and also fixed their hair.

During World War I, when the shipment of dolls (to the United States) stopped, the business flourished because of the demand to fix broken dolls. Madame Alexander then saw an opportunity to open a doll’s factory, at age 28. This was an unusual accomplishment; given that during her time, the standard for women was to stay home caring for the family. Despite the humble beginnings, the factory was converted into a successful institution during a golden period of activity with the arrival of European immigrants (Italians, Irish, Jews, Spaniards, and Eastern Europeans), who established themselves in the factory’s surrounding area. These 10- Historically, this company that provided employment for many people in the area.

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The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

immigrants came prepared to work in the manufacturing industry. They enjoyed the familial environment and work security they found in the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. Although these workers differed in age, immigration status, family composition, educational levels, they all contributed to the production of dozens of individual dolls as well as doll collections.

The 1950s was a prosperous decade for the nation and for the manufacturing industry in particular. The Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., benefited from the economic boom. This was the beginning of the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation, and their fathers and families showered many of the young girls of upper class families with the expensive and high quality dolls made in the United States. The 1950s witnessed the birth of a doll collection dedicated to the coronation of England’s Queen Elizabeth, representing royal characters (1953), and the Alexanderkins (1950). The famous Cissy Doll created in 1955, was a feminist icon because it was the first doll to dress like a business executive, albeit one in high heels and a curvaceous body.

Towards the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, northern Manhattan’s population began changing because of the great influx of immigrants from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and some from the Dominican Republic. These individuals left their countries overrun with political and social upheaval, and arrived in the United States in the midst of its economic boom. At the time, the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., was actually experiencing a work force change. African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans gradually replaced European immigrants who moved to the suburbs.

Similar to the earlier waves of immigrants from Europe, Dominicans who settled in Harlem, Washington Heights, and the surrounding areas, found work at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., a company that has always relied upon immigrant workers. These new immigrants were employed and trained by the company in far larger numbers than ever before, although Latinos had already been participating in the work force since the end of the 1930s and beginning of the 1940s. According to reports, during the 1930s and 40s one began to see more Hispanics and more African Americans working for the company” (Palmer). Since the end of the 1950s until today, “the workforce is predominantly Dominican… most people here were either born in the Dominican Republic or [their] parents were from the Dominican Republic” (Palmer).

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Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

“They learned sewing in the factory; many have worked at the plant for decades and 70 percent of the workers lived within two miles” of the company (Ira Smith).

During the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s, Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., employed more than six hundred employees, the majority from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries. Current employees stated: “There were more than 200 people just on [one] floor when I arrived.” Another person said: “in 1978, there were 800 people.” In production alone, “there were 600 employees.” One of the workers stated: “When I started working, there were 400 to 500 people in production; there were 12 or 13 men in cutting and 3 made the hats. Then everything began falling apart. The morale for some of us that continued working at the factory was affected. From the 450 people in my department, there are only 7 left today.” According to one participant, “Production at the site closed in 2002. There are less than fourteen of us left, and only seven of us, women, work in production.”

The factory suffered from the economic crises that affected the nation at the end of the 1950s and the 1960s. It experienced a continuous drop in employment mainly caused by increase in taxes, the costs in production and of the specialized technology required for the job in order not to sacrifice the dolls’ quality or aesthetic. As a result, the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., had to close several departments, forcing the company to outsource its production for cheaper labor. In the 1980s, the company suffered even more serious financial problems, which lasted until the end of the 1990s. But, “[t]he company financial problems began in 1988 when it was sold to two New York investors…” The company underwent a period of instability after it was sold. The doll collectors and the retailers were concerned about the quality of the dolls; the company was short-staffed, and production costs continued to increase. Moreover, proposals to construct a new building were postponed. According to sources, “Banks were not willing to invest here, so there were hardly any new businesses coming into the neighborhood.” (NYT, Abby Good enough, 1994).

The new owners of Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. wanted to relocate the factory to another state where quality of production could be maintained at a lesser cost.

This proposal attracted the attention of elected officials, community activists, and people from the Empowerment Zone in Harlem and Washington Heights. The relocation of this 35

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

company would have meant the loss of employment for hundreds of people, “most of them women from the Dominican Republic.” The company stayed in New York, but part of its production was outsourced and the work force was reduced. In the past as well as today, the company continues to be one of the main sources of employment in the area. Other factories have gone out of state in search of cheaper labor.

Since Kaizen Breakthrough Partnership bought the company, a Wall Street firm specializing in acquiring and improving companies with financial problems, it gained some level of financial stability. The Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. is the main, if not the only, source of manufacturing work in northern Manhattan. According to the New York State Urban Development Corporation (1994), “It is the largest private employer in Harlem, providing a third of the light manufacturing jobs.” While the factory may have once employed hundreds and hundreds of people, the current number of employees has been reduced drastically, especially in the production area.

The Creation of Beautiful Dolls at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc.

The first doll created by Madame Alexander´s was based on an alter ego of the Red Cross Nurse, made of fabric. This doll became incredibly popular, and led her to design the Baby Doll, also in fabric, which then became her signature doll. More dolls followed, many inspired or informed by significant moments, whether of challenge or triumph. The Red Cross Nurse Doll emerged “when WWI threatened to close her family’s doll shop” (DollsandFriends.com: Madame Alexander´s: The History, page 1). The Alice Doll was created during the Great Depression because many unemployed families could not afford to buy dolls for their children, thereby creating the need for a quality doll similar to the ones arriving from Europe, but less expensive and simpler. As a result, Madame Alexander´s designed and created a fabric doll based on the children’s story Alice in Wonderland, which was very popular at that time. More dolls were created after the Alice Doll, many of which were related to characters in children’s stories or popular culture; a tradition that still exists today.

Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., have honored women for their bravery, abilities, and challenges they have encountered in traditional society. There are many representations including a Gulf War soldier, the Cissy Doll during several feminist 36

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periods, several First Ladies, and as an ode to popular culture, there are dolls representing television’s ‘Desperate Housewives.’ The workers interviewed have participated in the creation and construction of all of the dolls listed above, and many more. All of which were intended to represent women of every decade and the changing roles they have had in society. These workers left their mark on dolls that will far outlive their own time.

Work at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc.

Friends and family are the best headhunters and recruiting personnel to connect potential new workers and a site of employment. Dominican immigrants found work at this company mainly through family or friend social network. The interviews confirm that friends or relatives recommended those workers. When the interviewees were asked how they found out about the employment opportunities at the company, the answers were: “A person that worked here told me about the company;” another person said: “I got into the company because a brother-in-law of mine that worked here brought me here.” Another worker stated that she “found out about the factory because my [female] cousins worked here; they brought me here;” According to another worker, she “was brought in by a [male] friend that worked here.” The path to employment at the factory for another person was: “A [female] friend that worked here told me about the company. I took the initiative of coming and they hired me immediately. I passed the test since I knew how to sew.”

Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., guarantees the authenticity of all their dolls. The training that the company provided, and still provides, to these women was specifically targeted to teaching them how to produce a beautiful, attractive, and perfect product in the shortest amount of time possible. In the search for beauty and perfection of the dolls, these Dominican immigrant workers have developed a specific aesthetic and style that characterizes Madame Alexander’s dolls, fusing it with what they learned and their own innate talents. They are the faces behind these dolls which they laboriously have constructed, carefully have crafted, and with which they have identified as women, wives, mothers, and perhaps, even as sisters. Some even have a special connection with the dolls, a product they diligently created. Women doll makers identify with their creation, and most importantly, feel part of the production process.

It seems that these Dominican workers earned the trust and respect of the company’s managers because of their dedication and discipline, despite any deficiency in a specific 37

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

skills or their lack of English language. They distinguished themselves by integrity and pride. Mr. Dennis Palmer, the company’s director, said regarding Dominican workers: “the work ethic of the Dominican workers we have had here has been paralleled by none.

They are, far and above, some of the most dedicated workers. I mean, they are here every day, they care about their job.” He further explained, “There also is a direct effect on these workers’ legal residency status in the United States and their acquisition of green cards. With this proven work ethic, and so reliable and vast network of family and friends, information is readily shared, to gain employment, to learn new skills, and to work hard.”

The Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., helped many Dominicans legalize their immigration status; the company provided letters of recommendation for the workers, who would in turn take them to the US Consulate when they applied for residency or for visas for relatives. The company’s prestige often assured the worker legal success with the US Immigration and Naturalization Services, today known as Homeland Security.

Figueroa, one of the participants interviewed explained the power of the company’s letter: “…within the company, it was said that when you go to the American Consulate, all you have to say is ‘the Alexander letter.’ [We talked about it] because we were all Dominicans.

The woman…who was the boss at that time would say: ‘When you apply for the visa, always take the letter, the company’s cover letter. This is a global factory.”

There is no doubt that the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., assured a future of a better prospect for thousands of immigrant workers, some of whom were undocumented. In doing so, the Company also helped immigrants incorporate into the labor market in New York City.

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Maria PĂŠrez

Sintia Molina • Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux • Anneris Goris

CHAPTER IV- IMMIGRANT DOLL MAKERS: STUDY FINDINGS

Globalization strengthens the dominance of the world capitalist economic system creating what has been called an “empire,” global network economy, mass culture, or an interconnected world (Hardt and Negri, 2000; Gottdiener, 2003; Castells, 1998; Kellner, 1998; and Mander and Goldsmith, 1996). However, this is a reductive postindustrial or deterministic account of the globalization process (Kellner, 1998). It is more than just the imposition of the logic of capital or the triumph of a globalized hegemony of market capitalism (Kellner, 1998; Robins and Webster, 1999). Globalization also produces and generates possibilities for spaces to be contested and reconfigured from below, creating ambiguities, tensions, conflicts, and contradictions (Kellner, 1998; Luke and Luke, 2000; and Cvetkovich and Kellner, 1997). The process is opened to transformations, interventions, and resistance, particularly from below (Kellner, 1998).

The positive (progressive and productive) and negative (oppressive, alienating, and destructive) aspects of globalization comprise, what for Marx and Engels were, the basic contradictions of capitalism (Marx and Engels, 1978).

The idea that traditions or local cultural practices are necessarily eroded or eliminated by the “networked society” has challenged scholars who have articulated the connection or relationship between the global and the local (Luke and Luke, 2000).

Foucault (1970 and 1972) posits that modernization, and one can add globalization, from above leads to the possibilities of struggles and resistance from below. Kellner (1998) sees the possibilities for globalization from below resulting from groups fighting for better wages and working conditions, social and political justice, environmental protection, and increase in democracy and freedom worldwide. He also suggests that articulation from a globalized perspective requires examination of continuities and discontinuities with the past and specification of what is new (old) in the present context.

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The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

Many of these immigrant workers arrived from the Dominican Republic without any specific skills, or preparation in a specialized career or trade. For these workers, the factory has served as their main site of learning, of skill-acquisition – a school of life, in many ways. Some however, did receive previous training in basic skills in the Dominican Republic, which helped them in obtaining employment in the company, and to achieve better positions. For example, Altagracia Villa learned to sew in the Dominican Republic. She stated that: “I already knew everything…I knew about almost all the machines. It was easy for me.” She became a supervisor after working there for few months: “I was made supervisor after only working for nine months. Then I was the boss of the supervisors. I’m still the boss of the supervisors.” Another example is Lucia Toribio, who already had hairstyling training in the Dominican Republic, she stated: “I do hair. I already had experience.”

The skills they brought with them, and the sentimental experience of working with these dolls, transformed these workers, despite their assertions, into true artists of creation, fashion, and style, combining the classic with the modern and the popular.

Regarding the artistic work done by these men and women, Dennis Palmer says, “… you give them a piece of the fabric, just pieces of fabric and at the end of the day when you come back, the fabric is joined together…lace, collars, sleeves, cuff, there is a petticoat, socks in some cases or panty hose, whatever the doll has…It is like taking a raw piece of clay like, if you were a sculptor, and create a sculpture. It could be a part, a head, could be anything. The same way these women take this [anything].

Remember, love is in the detail, and they have taken on the art of sewing and in fact, they are artists.”

The stories of the immigrant doll makers highlight and shed light on continuity and discontinuity, old and new, globalization from below and above, and on the empowerment of otherwise excluded, disenfranchised, and marginalized people.

This account is perhaps the history of how a group of immigrant women began to undergo a process of examination, self-valorization, validation, and affirmation as a result of participating in the transnationalization of the Dominican Republic’s work force. Contestation for these women started from a point of local forces mediating globalization. Fragmentation, organization and disorganization, and alienation can fuel changes, and champion transformations of individuals and communities. However, the stories of these women are written as a silent and visible historical (continuity and 42

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discontinuity, and as globalization from below or within) account of the Dominican legacy in New York City, and their/survival/presence/struggle will forever remain impregnated within the Madame Alexander’s doll creations.

Upon arriving in a world filled with abundance, many immigrants encounter symbols of economic wealth, and sought to obtain, acquire and use available resources, specifically because of their new-found capacity to do so, some of which were probably barred in their homeland. The process of consumerism is reminiscent of what Max Weber referred to when he speaks of class, status, and wealth in book The Fundamental Basic Concepts of Sociology. For Weber (1962), all communities are composed in such a way that the most basic tangible and non-tangible objects, symbolic and material, are always distributed in an unjust way. For him, this process necessarily involved power. It is also possible that the sense of deprivation experienced in poverty requires disempowered individuals to evaluate their sense of need and luxury differently than their more economically privileged counterparts. In this case, they would consider a toy (in this case, dolls) as an unnecessary luxury even long after childhood has been left behind, or even after the obstacles of price or ease of acquisition have been eliminated.

In our many conversations and interviews with this group of Dominican immigrant, it became obvious that these women, who have spent their lives working on making beautiful objects (dolls) for others, felt that they themselves, were not worthy of their own creation because, to a large degree, they have been invisible (alienated from the production process) during all these years. When the interviewees were asked if they felt like artists, the overwhelming consensus was, with the exception of two people, that none of them saw themselves in that way. In fact, the descriptor “artist” made little sense to them in its original usage and did not conjure an image of creativity or beauty.

They had not even made the connections between the word “artist” and themselves until different explanations of the concept were shared with them.

The fragmentation of the experience creates a puzzling and significant contradiction from the perspective of globalization from below and within (Ferguson, 1992). While these women do identify themselves with their work, and take great pride in their tangible accomplishments, they do not feel that this work is important in relation to the outcome of their labor. More importantly, they do not believe that they are the true artists behind the delicate faces of these dolls; a process which portrays alienation from the means of production.

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The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

The contradiction and alienation generated by the dichotomized experiences of immigrant women workers demonstrates the dual and inherit nature in globalization. There are always two sides to the story; positive and negative, connected and disconnected, and productive and oppressive. People do not immediately and automatically absorb their engagement in production as part and parcel of their own identity, previous experiences, and creativity.

Poverty can be transculturalized through globalization; it is transported, deported and reinforced. In order words, there is a distinction between the state of mind that poverty produces and the cultural shock that these immigrant women workers suffered upon arriving at a metropolis like New York City, and working in factory producing dolls. Many of these workers came from rural areas in the Dominican Republic. It is likely that these collectable dolls remind the workers of, and represented, a stage of early poverty in their homeland due to lack of resources since these dolls are representative of an elite class. As evident of this transcultural alienation in many of the interviews, several of the participants expressed that they never played with dolls during their childhood. As one woman stated in discussing the dolls she creates, “I make them as part of my everyday job. Why should I bring them home?”

People who grew up in poverty, often lack the experience of receiving toys, or the kind of material gift typically given on traditional Dominican Christmas holidays, such as Día de los Reyes Magos, Día del Nino Jesús or Día del Viejo Belén which has a tendency to affect the social reproduction of life or creativity which sustain human existence (Ferguson, 2006). These “lived experiences” of alienation and marginalization generated a sense of worthless and a feeling of undeserving because in their eyes they did not deserve an extravagant gift—i.e. even a doll. Individuals from a different social class would have expected such a privilege. This sentiment is a motif born out in many of the interviews. Many of these women stated that they have never bought a doll themselves, even as adults, or as gifts for their granddaughters. This speak to a disjunction between the nature of their employment, doll-making, and the pleasure of the childhood memory the dolls are intended to create – and from which these creators, raised in poverty, were prohibited from ever attaining. Only individuals that can afford to buy the dolls can truly enjoy this beautiful memory.

THE FACES BEHIND THE DOLLS: IMMIGRANT WORKERS

Many Dominican immigrant women working at this factory do not focus on reaching a higher social class that would make them equal to Americans or to comfortably establish them in this country. They “[try to] secure a way of life and a happy return home or to their country.”

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Dennis Palmer stated that: “Five different people who are working here right now have built houses back in Dominican Republic and plan to move back there.” When commenting on Gonzalez’s study “Emigración Dominicana en los Estados Unidos” [Dominican Immigration in the United States], José del Castillo says, “The Dominican immigrant’s focus was on bettering their future status in the Dominican Republic, as well as that of their family who still live there” (1987). This attitude of bettering [things for] others and of bettering themselves outside of the area of residence, dominates the behavior, the decisions, and the lives of the workers at Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc. Returning to their homeland after retirement is often the only objective.

Culture Repertoire: Pride and Loyalty; Important Stabilizing Factors

Dominican immigrant women come from a culture that values and places high importance on pride, loyalty, responsibility, and respect. All values which seem important in keeping the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., operating and moving at the same level of quality and speed expected of such endeavor. Hence, they stepped into the globalization process with a useful cultural repertoire with important features needed to keep this downgraded doll company flourishing, and at the same time, avoiding what Gergen (1991) calls multiphrenia or becoming defused or even disintegrating psychologically..

Globalization changes the world as previously noted by individuals involved in nationalization and transnationalization. For this reason, it is important to maintain some type of self-stability. Falmagne (2004) posits that in a globalizing world, there is a need, for establishing a site in the self that is kept stable through new meaning construction, and helps individuals feel safe and secure. Having such strong cultural elements, the factory also served these immigrants (women and man) as a vehicle to preserve the self because if the “different parts of the self are decentralized to such a degree that the self becomes scattered and loses its coherence, it does no long holds. But the irony (and paradoxical situation) is that the self that can emerge from the process of globalization is a self that “includes multiplicity, heterogeneity, contradiction, and tension (Hermans and Dimaggio, 2007). It has been argued that “Like the experience of uncertainty, fluidity and contradictions are regarded as intrinsic features of a dialogical self in a globalizing world” (Hermans and Dimaggio, 2007).

Therefore, these workers’ pride lies not only in having worked for Madame Alexander, a symbol of beauty and art (an almost default manufacturing company), but it also lies in 45

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

the fact that this work has served to highlight their nation, and or the Dominican flag with distinction. One of the participants stated: “I’m proud of my flag. My second home is Alexander’s Dolls. The years I have worked are my contribution to the country. My work travels around the world; my dolls are in store windows and in rich collectors’ hands.”

Another one claimed: “We have put our culture on the map…every little doll carries [within itself]…the [work of the] hands of several Dominican workers.”

Similar sentiments were expressed when speaking about the Dominican Doll created in the 1980s, which is included in the Company’s International Latin American collection along with the Puerto Rican Doll, Cuban Doll, Mexican Doll, among others.

As one of the participants said: “Yes, a Dominican one was made. It was a proud moment for us when she was made.” This doll, now referred to as “The Dominican [Doll]. As Dominican workers, [we] “felt very proud [that] we put our flag on the map.” As an expression of nationalism and pride in their homeland, these women have a Dominican flag, and the “Virgen de la Altagracia,” the Proctector of the Dominican Republic, and other religious images on their sewing machines at their workstations.

When discussing employer-employee labor relations, these workers express gratitude for the good treatment they have received. They say: “Even though many people worked [there], there were no problems. The bosses were good. The bosses have always been good. Madame Alexander always treated us well. They would say ‘Good Morning’ to us every day.” Another talked about work relations: “Yes, the [work] relations have always been good. Well for me, I have never had problems.” Another participant stated: “Before, [you] worked with discipline and respect. The bosses, you could see it, the bosses were respectful. Well, for me, Madame Alexander was a very refined person with the employees, and she never had the “boss” attitude. She always treated us well. She would say ‘good morning’ to us every day.” But, the bosses are the owners of the means of production whether or not workers are treated with some respect and consideration.

Alienation, marginalization, and the day-to-day vicissitudes of the type of labor they do were not part of the discourse they were willing to openly entertain. They did express loyalty to the company due to the employment opportunities provided and said that they felt good about being part of the doll making process, but were reluctant and more reserved about discussing self-worth affirmation, confirmation, and valorization by the owners. However, in spite of their reluctance to appear critical of the Company, some did speak on the object of validation and affirmation of the work they perform at 46

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the company. Some felt that they have never received adequate recognition from the company for their work. A participant stated: “No one has ever made us feel like artists, or has valued us” at the Company. However, this study attempts to shed some light on the experiences of Dominican immigrant women worker. In doing this, it tries to give validation, affirmation, and confirmation to the “lived experiences” of women.

The fact, however, that some buyers who have recognized their work come to the factory has been restorative for some of the workers. Their sense of pride has been busted through the gratitude of buyers. They have, they said, received attention, praise, and gratitude from the collectors and celebrities who have visited the factory. For example, they said: “some collectors, like Meg Ryan and Demi Moore, when they came to the factory and brought their children, they praised us for creating so much beauty.” Someone else said: “…to know we make famous dolls…and that famous people called beautiful and they visit us at the factory, makes me feel special.” Another participant admitted: “…famous people, like Eloise and Arnold Shan, come to talk to us about the dolls and thanked us for what we do. That pleases me.” Also, they feel delighted that many designers recognize and praise their work. While another participant proudly commented: “I learned a lot with a designer named John Vessutti. He was a big designer who always valued the work we did and would say that we were true artists. He would tell us that: “not everyone can do a job so well done with such little parts the way we would do it.”

Adjustment to work and the Core Society

Due to work conditions in New York City before and now, and the desire for a better life, these women seem to have adapted themselves to the company’s labor system, but not to the culture in the United States. Something which, given the paradoxical nature of globalization, it is possible (and often expected) to happen. The alienation and marginalization characteristic of the manufacturing industry intercepts with different aspect of the globalized culture in the country. Hendrick (1980) claims that the immigrant unconsciously and selectively adapts him/herself to some parts of the culture that are essential to (be able to) function in a general manner without immersing him/herself in the adaptation or internalization of the new cultural system. However, there is always space for globalization from below; people have different ways to subverted imposition and oppression.

But, women often remain quiet. They do not wish to jeopardize themselves in the process of questioning superiors or people in authority. For the most part, women remain 47

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marginal and invisible even when they are part of changes and transformations in the globalization below and above (Sagas and Molina, 2004). These days, fear of not having a job due to the economic recession posses real threats and problem for everyone. In the case of this group of women, this fear is compounded by the nature of their work given that the constant search for cheap labor and the continuous transnationalization of capital as well as the increase farming out of functions to the periphery. Retirement is also a reality for all these women, and since it is an important subject and a goal, it was discussed more openly. When conversing about retirement, a participant stated: “I plan on retiring from Alexander’s dolls.”

Another participant added: “Many of us are at the age for retiring. They are just holding on, being strong.”

Beauty and Women: Cultural Globalization

It has been said that deterritorialization goes beyond the economic and the political realms (Grewal, 2005). The cultural consequence of globalization has been the rise of cultural homogenization or the emergence of a uniform culture (Indian Blogger, 2010). But because cultures are not static, the process also promotes and fosters cultural heterogenization. Often, cultures become different and distinctive in the exchanges and incorporation into the new world order (Indian Blogger, 2010). Cultural transactions happen both ways often within a political context which reflects power differentials among those involved (periphery and core). The powerful knitted world system has a tendency to create some unity from great, and often conflicting, diversities (Jeans, 2002). Of importance for this study are the spaces created by this cultural exchange for women to contextualize their lives, to have a voice or express themselves, the reconfiguration of beauty, and the constructions of new fluid identities.

Globalization has also produced a commodified worldwide sense of mainstream ideal of beauty by using different tools (print media, television, and music) to spread specific cultural images (Onishi, 2002). The creation of a “transnational identity whereby particular groups of people from different cultural, religion, ethnic, social, moral background and/or experiences can participate in an all-inclusive phenomenon… is appealing because of its propensity for racial and gender identificatory revolution” (Osumare, 2000). In some cases, globalization has enhanced the opportunities for people to begin to defy existing cultural and political restrictions. Where the transmission of beauty misrepresented and did not embrace “the diasporas of blackness, the many shades, shapes, and colors,” reconfigurations, new dialogues and opportunities have 50

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been emerging and evolving (Reddick-Morgan (2004). For women, the body is important in the process of identification, and beauty is part of the foundation in how they understand and relate to their bodies (Reddick-Morgan, 2004). Some of the women expressed wanting to be like the dolls they make.

For women, globalized beauty creates other female spaces which allow them to work on what it means to be women and to construct new and defying identities Black, 2004; Gimlin, 2002). Today, women find themselves in a new borderless world with opportunities to renegotiate and reconstruct fluid identities through images that are more representative of themselves, their struggles and their causes (Gimlin, 2002). There are now different vehicles to restore dignity, sense of identify continuity, and security (Yusul, 2005). For example, women can now enter and step into cultural, political, and economic spaces previously reserved and sheltered for men because “Globalization allows increased movement and border crossing, which permits the exchange of goods, services, ideas, and practices at the interfaces of culture” (Manners, 2000; Hermans and Dimaggio, 2007).

The negative and contradictory aspect of this process, however, is that many women have also become victim of the so-called “triple load;” they are wife, mother and worker.”

In this regard, Meyers (1990) explains that: “when people social and economic patterns are affected, the culture is over all affected too.” Hence, the need to promote empowering techniques that help women to favorably complete in the new-networked society is a necessity. It has been posit that one way to do this is to aggressively document the lived experiences of people (collect oral history, ethnographies, and so forth), and preserve them in order to conceptualize, for posterity, for research, and development purposes (Yusuf, 2005).

This is one of the main objectives of “Para Que No se Olviden” project; the preservation of the history of the Dominican immigrant community in the United States.

The doll industry has been studied before because “dolls are beloved objects” (Edwards, 2010), are “sculptural representations of the human form (Edwards, 2010), have a long historical trajectory, and are typically gender stratified (Edwards, 2010). Dolls “can be used as texts to shed light upon the intentions of producers” (Edwards, 2010), and are “important representations of our material culture as their design embodies cultural values” (Edwards, 2010). Humans tend to form attachments to dolls, which they may not develop with other objects due to what they represent and how dolls are perceived because of the gender role they transcend.

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What do dolls have to do with the creation and transformation of women spaces in a globalized world? A great deal as we found out. What is the connection between dolls and women? Why is there a need to study dolls to understand, articulate, and examine the formulation of women identities within the capitalist orbit of the new world order? We try to answer some of these questions below.

REWORKING IDENTITIES: IMMIGRANT DOLL MAKERS

Historically, doll workers have been unable to posses the object of their design and creation. Formanek-Brunell (1993) states: “These workers could never afford to own one of the beautiful dolls they produced for the middle and wealthy class.” In a doll factory owned by women, as in the case of Martha Chase, female workers however, were encouraged to feel close to the dolls they produced; something male industrialists did not do (Edwards, 2010). At Madame Alexander´s ® Dolls Company, Inc., however, workers have always been encouraged to buy dolls and have been given discounts to help them make purchases.

Female dolls are often constructed to resemble and represent what women should be and look like; wearing couture clothes, having accessories that help to beautify the body, having an adult figure, representing different types of people, and/or becoming ethnic.

Ferguson (2006) state that fashion dolls tend to cultivate a female empathy with commodity and that “women are invited to and expected to merge with commodities, to transform their body parts into rack for the display of merchandise;” a unity which “couples the living body to the inorganic world” (Ferguson, 2006). Closeness often means some sort of identification with the object.

Ferguson (2006) posits that dolls are tools for social reproduction, and that as such they are help to reproduce “the totality of creative human activity involved in sustaining life.” In that sense, dolls can be made to embodied and portray cultural and political images, and to globalize certain messages within the same country, and in remote corners of the world thereby facilitating what Flusty (2004) calls “the social construction of globalization within, between, and through world cities.” But, “commoditoys” or “toys that stimulate rather than satisfy longing by urging children to consume an endless array of adds-ons, accessories and/or, media products” (Ferguson, 2006) such as Barbie, Shirley Temple, and Little Orphan Annie, “sparked the beginning of the end of adult mediation in the toy industry” (Ferguson, 2006).

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The launching of these dolls served to incorporated fantasies beyond moral aesthetic zones representing a rejection of domesticity, work usually reserved for women, and ultimately, a break from tradition by challenging the production of specific socioeconomic, political and cultural relations (Ferguson, 2006). According to Ferguson (2006), toys also transmit and embody hegemonic notions and values, and they can pass along subtle and complex. Ferguson (2006) states that in the case of Barbie for example (or any other such representation), she may also “symbolize less of a break with adult culture, than its affirmation.” In other words “rather than signify the beginning of a rapture between parent and child culture, Barbie may [also] represent the early stages of induction of children into an increasingly commodified adult culture- and this, ironically, may be the more authentic source of (subconscious) parental unease about her, and other such toys” (Ferguson, 2006).

From a globalization perspective, dolls or any other object for that matter, destined for international commerce, have the potential for transcending geographic, social, and political spaces, concretization, and/or furthering the process of resistance (Ferguson, 2006). But, doll makers have appropriated dolls as cultural forms to advance their feminist social agenda, to promote and foster protest, and women have engaged in reforms using the doll industry in the public sphere (Formanek-Brunell, 1993).

In Chamula, Mexico, doll making was used to illustrate how indigenous communities responded to the politics of globalization, and simultaneously allow “Chamulan craftswomen to preserve traditional methods of sewing, felting, and dying in a time of cultural crisis” (Scott, 2005). According to Scott (2005), the art of doll making helped to highlight the history; “From ancient Chamula into the webs of cyberspace,” to the Zapatista doll will be presented as living survival model for traditional voices…”The environmental and social cost of doll making has also been examined and articulated from the globalization perspective. The book, Beyond Child’s Play, by Sally Edwards (2010) addresses issues and concerns regarding the production of dolls without regard to environmental impact. She advocates for the use of sustainable production models, and wants to see more products (in this case, dolls) that have less of a negative impact on the environment.

WORKING FOR A GLOBAL MARKET

As a result of this investigation, some questions have emerged regarding the dichotomy or disjunction between disconnection and connection of workers in a global market. We 55

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examined how the company stayed competitive and the type of training and preparation provided to the workers. By launching different lines of collectible theme dolls (ethnic, children, a doll hospital, baby dolls, and traditional and modern) some made to order, the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc.created an international and transnational distinct economic niche for itself and the immigrant workers. It has also stayed in business by turning part of its operation into an elegant small museum, a doll club, and using catalogues and the Internet for marketing.

However, dolls produced as collectible items are usually more costly and are marketed to specific sectors of the population. Hence, the company’s grows is contingent upon its capacity to produce beautiful dolls, and to create dolls representing different themes. Thematic dolls are constructed to transmit different cultural, economic, social, and political messages (values) in the social production of life in a globalized word. They are not necessary produced for child play. These dolls are more novelty or tools in the creation of different fantasies staged or transmitted by the core society.

How did these workers train to produce or become artists in a global market? The workers answered this very well: “One of the requirements of working in this factory was to quickly learn the job…you had to learn the job well because before it was very hard because there were other ways of working, [so] you started with the simplest job. That consisted of gluing the hair onto the doll’s head and from there, you could move on to other tasks. Now, the hair comes as a wig but before it was another process. It was to glue everything by hand, with glue and benzene. We would style their hair with a comb. At the beginning, I would glue the little wig onto the eight-inch doll. And as time passed…little by little, I moved up in rank.”

For another person, the process was as follows: “I learned everything. I started with the simplest job.” “I started making little dresses but my main training and main job was making hats and afterwards, a little bit of everything.” “I used to make the dolls, the dolls’ bodies…it was stuffing the body with chamois and tying it with a wire. We had a device like a case and a special foot to reinforce it when the doll was being filled. Then, we would put a wire around the neck. Before it was wire, it wasn’t plastic like now. Now, I do everything.”

Those who are machine operated explained their learning process as follows: “From the beginning, I worked in sewing. I had a teacher, Franklyn Stamolly, and he taught me how all the machines work. I have been in the design department since 1989.” “I started 57

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

learning to make hats…now my job is in the doll hospital, fixing the dolls. At first it was hard. I took at least a month and a half learning to make the hats. You have to dedicate time when you are going to learn because they are very hard [to make]. It looks easy, because I already have much experience. I have been making hats for nineteen years.”

Although these individuals perform a job that is difficult and reparative, they feel pleased and happy with the nature of their employment. They expressed feeling some kind of satisfaction and fulfillment with the final products and with their contributions in being part of the process of production. One woman said: “I feel good because it is something, I have touched that product, and I have created it. Because I make something very beautiful, the most beautiful dolls in the world. Yes, I feel fabulous.” Others expressed similar sentiments: “I am happy, it’s what I like,” says Lucia Toribio.

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CHAPTER V - CONCLUSION

The immigrants behind the faces of the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., are designers, seamstress, and artists. They have contributed to the culture, elegance, and beauty of the collectible (and theme) dolls sold worldwide. In very unique ways, these workers have contributed to the globalization (nationatization and transnationlization) of their native as well as the core cultures they had come in contact with at their arrival to New York City. Adelaida Jenkins claims, “All of us, the Dominican [women] have put our culture on the map since each of these dolls carries within them the hands of the many Dominican workers that have made all that beauty possible. We [women] feel and maintain the essence of what Madame Alexander is in each doll.

We are female artists. The art is there.”

These workers also have a tendency to identify with the product they have created.

The identification that women workers have with the dolls they create/produce is often related to their own sense of self-valorization as women, mothers, wives, friends, and sisters.

Many women mentioned the attraction or admiration they feel towards the dolls’ perfect bodies. These thoughts are by-products of the cultural and social conceptualization that women have about looking good and having an attractive body. But more than anything, this woman-doll identification is a response to the feminine ideal or concept that a woman should take care of and protect her body not just for it to be a main physical attraction, but also to be a source of beauty, elegance, and femininity.

These workers also have a tendency to identify with the product they have created.

The identification that women workers have with the dolls they create/produce is often related to their own sense of self-valorization as women, mothers, wives, friends, and sisters. Many women mentioned the attraction or admiration they feel towards the dolls’ perfect bodies. These thoughts are by-products of the cultural and social conceptualization that women have about looking good and having an attractive body.

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But more than anything, this woman-doll identification is a response to the feminine ideal or concept that a woman should take care of and protect her body not just for its physical attraction, but also because they embody the meaning of beauty, elegance, and femininity.

These workers have developed an intimate connection with the dolls they have created. Many of them do not notice the artistic and feminine cultural symbiosis they generate through these dolls. They do not realize that the job they perform is so specialized and creative. Yet, they do perceive a maternal-filial relationship and a feminine identification with the dolls. They described such relationship as: “Sometimes, I feel like the mother, other times I feel like the sister, like that.” “…I take one of these little dolls and I’ll even speak to her. When I speak to her, I tell her I love her. I feel like the mother. I give her a name, a dress, a wig…I feel like the mother.” “I feel like the grandmother, like everything, grandmother, sister, everything.” “I always tell the doll: you and I are family because I made you.” “I feel that each one of them is my daughter.

I do their hair. Imagine that.” “I feel like the mother of all them but I identify a lot with Scarlett.”

Almost all these women alluded to or referred to the dolls’ bodies and how elegantly the dolls are dressed. They also expressed their opinions regarding developing a different view of women and beauty:“…the one I most identify with is Pussy Cat because we worked a lot on her…That’s why she was my favorite because I used to make her body.” She added: “Usually, when I see these little dolls with that beautiful little body, I identify with them.” “I identify with the Alex Dolls that have a beautiful body…There are dolls that inspire more than others.” For example, “Sissy, oh that Sissy! Her little dresses, you think that you’re the one getting dressed.”

When discussing the dolls and the job she performs, Rosa Gamboa proudly shares, “When I go to a shopping center…and I see the Madame Alexander’s dolls, I say ‘Oh! Look at what we do.’ And sometimes, we feel proud because all of us have contributed a little something to that.” Guillermina Mora says, “I love my job, because when I was a little girl I loved playing with dolls, as a matter-of-fact, I would make my own rag dolls. I was very happy with my dolls. I never imagined that years later this would be my job; I think that’s why I have always felt comfortable in my job and knowing that we make famous dolls recognized almost world-wide...makes me feel like a very special person.”

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The exclusive dolls of Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., are collectable items purchased by famous people in the United States and abroad. For example, about the Alexandra Fairchild Ford 2003 Collection they stated: it is “a collection that reflects the lifestyle of today’s women. Alex, Paris and Jade are forward thinking trendsetters, each setting the standard with their own individual sculpts and reflecting their own identity and ethnicity” (As stated on back of Alexandra Fairchild Ford’s 2003 Collection Post Card). Hence, the design, sewing, and the artistic creation found in each doll of Madame Alexander have contributed not only to the socio-politicoeconomic history of the United States, but also to the quintessence of the American culture. These Dominican workers are part of a highly specialized world market or those, they are not the designers, they just replicate everything handled to them from the designers of the company. They beautify the dolls by painting their faces, styling their hair, and making their elegant dresses.

Immigrants at the Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., continue to be an integral part of globalization. Today, the people behind the faces of Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., disproportionally represent immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Some have been in the United States for over 40 years, and some are from the rural area and others have an urban background from the Dominican Republic. The participants feel that they have assured the survival of this national and international business; some stated, “it made profits even during terrible financial moments. The company exists thanks to us. We have been dedicated to this job for years.” These immigrant workers are the true champions of the story of the faces behind Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc.

This contribution is an attempt to highlight the effect of transnationalism and globalization using the Dominican Diaspora as an in depth case study on their integration into the US labor market. It has also explored the perception of beauty and the cultural transnationalization of poverty. This is a contribution, which we hope generates further interest in the articulation of other aspects of the transnationalization and nationalization of immigrant workers. We also hope that other researchers continue to explore, examine, and articulate the experience of Dominican workers. There is a need to integrate and further articulate the contributions that they have made to the labor history of New York City and of the United States.

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Madame Alexander Collection: Retro Revival Jacqui, Limited Edition 200 pieces. #42715. Picture taken from Madame Alexander Collection 2006, Page 6. New York, NY. www.madamealexander.com Scarlett Picnic, New Limited Edition 300 pieces Ref.#46865. Picture taken from Madame Alexander Catalogue, Fall Preview 2006, Page 5, New York, NY. www.madamealexander.com Scene Stealer Cissy. New Limited Edition 200 pieces. Ref#42705. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection 2006, Page 7, New York, NY. www.madamealexander.com The Ladies of Wistena Lane. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection 2007 Catalogue, New York, NY, Desperate Housewifes, Page 9, New York, NY. www.madamealexander.com Walt Disney Showcase Collection. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection 2007, New York, NY, Pages 90-91. www.madamealexander.com The Wizard of Oz. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection 2010 Catalogue, New York, NY. Alexander Page 14. www.madamealexander.com Favorite Friends. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection Catalogue 2010. New York, NY. Alexander. www.madamealexander.com Around the World, International Collection. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection Catalogue 2010. New York, NY. Alexander Pages 41-43. www.madamealexander.com

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Baby Alexander. Picture taken at Madame Alexander Collection 2006 Catalogue, New York, NY. “Introducing Vintage Alexander,” Page 103. www.madamealexander.com Madame Alexander Miniature Showcase International Collection. Picture taken from Madame Alexander Dominican Doll Collection 1986, Madame Alexander´s® Dolls Company, Inc., New York, NY. www.madamealexander.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

Sintia Molina-Figueroa, Ph.D., An Associate Professor at St. Francis College, in Brooklyn, New York where she teaches Spanish language and Literature. Her specialization is Caribbean, Latin American, and Latino Literature. Her interests, research, and publications focus on women problems, the relationship between gender and class, immigration and education. She authored El naturalismo en la novela cubana (2000) and co-authored the book Dominican Migration: Transnational Perspectives (2004); she has also contributed chapters in several books and articles she has written have been published in several academic journals.

She did her undergraduate work in CUNY’s Brooklyn College, recieving a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American and Penisular Literature. Her gradúate work was done at CUNY’s Center for Graduate Studies, where she obtained a Ph.D in Caribbean and Latino American Literature. She has received several fellowships for her national and international research. Currently, she is working on a critical anthology on Feminine in Dominican Literature.

Mary Elizabeth Peña-Gratereaux, D.Med.: Founder and Executive Director of Cayena Publication, community activist, poet, writer, and editor of a series of Dominican Anthologies. Currently, she is the Director of the Mediation and conflict Resolution Program at the Washington Heights Inwood Coalition. Co-author of the Spanish Video and Manual of Mediation “Mediacion en Español,” Mediation and Culture, Skills Enhancement Manual for New Mediators, and a bilingual video on Youth School Mediation.”

Her publications include: Ecos del silencio (1987) “Recuerdos de una inmigración: Testimonios de niños inmigrantes dominicanos / Memories of Dominican Inmigrants Children” (2000) Other titles from Cayena Publications are: “Un saco roto lleno de sueños: 83

The Faces Behinds Madame Alexander´s ® Doll: A Dominican Labor Experience

Historias de mujeres inmigrantes dominicanas y latinoamericanas” 2005) “Desde la Diaspora: cuentos y y poemas de niños y niñas dominicanos/ From the Diaspora: Anthology of Dominican Children’s Writing” 2005), a bilingual book compiled in Massachussetts

by Yrene Santos, in Miami by Pastora Hernández and in New York by Mary Ely PeñaGratereaux. Her 2007 Cayena’s publications include, “Voces de la inmigración: Historias y testimonios de mujeres inmigrantes dominicanas” compiled by Mary Ely Peña –Gratereaux and in 2008, the translated version is published:“Voices From The Diaspora: Stories and Testimony Of Dominican Inmigrants Women”. In 2009, Dreams, Flora & Magic, a collection of fairy tales. The latest publication in 2010, a poetic Anthology “Mujeres de Palabra”.

Dr. Peña-Gratereaux began her academic studies at Hostos Community College, completed a BA at Albany State University, New York, her master in the State University of New York at Buffalo, and holds a doctoral degree in Mediation, from The Graduate Theological Foundation of the Universities- in collaboration with Notre Dame and Oxford Universities.

Anneris Goris, Ph.D., MSSR, MSW

Dr. Goris is a sociologist trained at Fordham University with a scholarship from the National Institute of Mental Health. Her areas of expertise include urban sociology, demographics, immigration, Latino studies, research, and counseling. She has been the recipient of many awards (the Proclamation of August 12th as Anneris Goris’ Day by the president of the New York City Council in recognition of fine scholarly work on Dominican Immigrants in the United States, 1990; The National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship, 1980-1984; and The Borough of Manhattan Award for Excellence, 1969), taught many college level courses (sociology, research methodology, psychology of Hispanic youth, ethnicity in a pluralistic society, Puerto Ricans in the United States, Latino communities in New York City, Caribbean communities in New York City, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in the United States, Religion in Mexico and the Caribbean, and theories of personality), and has published on diverse themes.

Freddy Vargas: is an award-winning filmmaker born in the Dominican Republic and educated in the United States. Having spent half of his life on each of these countries allows him to navigate the waters of two different cultures, experiences that enhance his 84

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work as a filmmaker. From his beginnings in film industry at St. John’s University, Freddy showed talent and dedication winning two years in a row the film competition with his shorts Uptown and Victor. Victor. He won the Gold Plaque Award at the 1995 Chicago International Film Festival and was invited to the Telluride Film Festival the same year.

Freddy also has two feature screenplays that have been produced; “In Search of a Dream” and “Red Passport” (story). Other awards include ABC Entertainment Television Group Talent Development Program. Freddy’s work have been shown around the world and showcased in prestigious places such as the American Museum of the Moving Image.

In 2007 Vargas made his short film, The Woman from Columbus Circle, based on a short story by Dominican writer Franklyn Gutierrez. The film was invited to the 2007 New York International Latino Film Festival. The same year and at the same festival, Vargas was declared the winner of the 2007 HBO / NYILFF Short Film Competition for his screenplay titled Hispaniola. HBO awarded him 15,000 dollars to produce and direct a short film in the Dominican Republic based on his screenplay. The resulting film, Hispaniola, was showcased at the 2007 New York International Latino Film Festival and shown later that year on HBO on demand as part of Hispanic Heritage month, after which the film ran on other HBO channels for a year. Since 2008, Vargas has been working on the development of a variety of projects. Amongst these is his comedy musical “Pinchos & Rolos”, which had its World Premiere at the 2008 NYILFF in its short film version. Other film festivals will follow, such as La Muestra Internacional de Cine de Santo Domingo. Vargas is currently penning the script for the feature film which he anticipates will be his feature film debut.

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