Monday, October 25, 2010
Never look at sneakers the same again...
Sneakers, Silences, and Surprises certainly surprised me with the in depth analysis of female labor rights in other countries. South Korea especially, being a militaristic government between the 1960s and 1980s had a particular interest in suppressing labor organizing. What happens when women become enraged with this complete lack of respect? If a woman demands the right to organize, the right to decent working conditions, and a fair wage? In South Korea as well as other countries, these women are risking losing their jobs. I feel like these women are brainwashed into coming to cities to work. The government is pushing for women in the 1970s to migrate "from their small towns to cities"(60) and at the same time, parents were being encouraged to redine their daughters as "responsible daughters", and "marriageable daughters"--clearly only being able to do so by getting a job and living on their own. They put this pressure on women to uphold the true meaning of a "respectable woman". Brainwashing. And by doing so, they trick these poor women into low paying, undeserving jobs where they get treated terribly. Rather than upping wages (which were a ridiculously low wage at $1.89 a day), Nike and other sneaker companies think that these jobs are good opportunities for women. When they could be out "harvesting coconut meat in the tropical sun", according to a Nike spokesman. Now when I look at sneakers at a store, or even glance at my own...I will definitely see the lengths to which some woman had to take in order to make these shoes.
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It's sad that women cannot stand up for themselves in fear of losing their jobs. Women have worked so hard to obtain the right to work and earn wage. Now that we have achieved it, some governments are taking advantage of those who are in need of making an income: poor women. These women get "tracked" into the low paying jobs that nobody wants and work in harsh conditions. While we may think that we are doing something good by providing low wage jobs to women, we might actually be putting them in an unfair situation. But is it better that we are having poor women work these jobs instead of children like how it used to be?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with both Courtney and Erica's reactions to this reading. I thought that it was a really good reading for us to have. Since most of us here are in positions where we are pretty well off and learning at an institution like Colgate, we sometimes need to be reminded about what is going on in other parts of the world. It is ironic that some United States companies are taking advantage of poor countries and encouraging harsh rule over women in those countries, so that they can maximize their overall profits. By giving this countries business we are encouraging the rulers to keep oppressing women so that the shoe companies continue to want to run their factories there. I think the fact that women are being forced to work for such low wages in order to support their families, really proves that although we are still working on equal rights here, we cannot forget about the women who are sooo much worse off than us in other countries.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with Emily's above comment. Many people joke about the "Colgate Bubble" and how we are cut off from the rest of the world; however people don't often talk about the "United States Bubble" or the "Western Nations Bubble". Such a large percentage of our consumer goods are produced by poor (often starving) workers in poor third world countries. I don't wake up, put on my jeans and think about who made them and the life they lead. I feel like if more attention could be brought to these horrible labor conditions, maybe changes could actually be made.
ReplyDeleteThe above post and comments are really true. The fact that women in south Korea have to work in those conditions under that kind of fear is unfair. I agree with Emily and that we need to study these women and maybe even try to help them. Living in America we can't even fathom working like that, we have a lot of advantages that a lot of women don't have in other countries.
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