Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Backbone of Production

In many cultures around the world women continue to be thought of as unproductive members of society. Their contributions are undervalued because it is assumed the tasks they perform require no effort beyond their biological aptitudes. The roles women adopt are largely subordinated and gender ascribed in accordance with oppressive patriarchal conventions.

In most underdeveloped countries women are treated as second-class citizens. Whereas on the one hand men are considered to be the breadwinners and representatives of the family, on the other hand, women are merely considered to be dependents. It is presumed that men need to work to support families while women’s salaries function as supplements to the household’s income. The long hours and tedious tasks comprising the bulk of women’s work are all chores that women learn from one another within the domestic sphere. Since the general public is not aware of the level of training required in learning gendered duties, it is assumed that these acquired abilities are innate characteristics of femininity.

As the fundamental goal within the capitalistic system is to attain the advantage over competition, the determining factor invariably lies within the cost of production. By manipulating economies on a global scale, investors are able to exploit resources over several markets within interconnected webs of networks. Epoch technological changes in transportation and communications have combined to effectively shrink distances and conceptions of time. The constructed subordination of women has effectively created an ‘ace card’ for transnationals. As cheap, nimble and disposable, the work that women do allows global corporations to benefit in terms of price, quality and control.

Third world countries form a sort of fantasyland for investors, as the prevailing invisibility of women’s work has contributed to the justifications of comparatively low-cost systems of production. Manufacturers continue to pay women workers less than the cost of living knowing that female labourers are regarded as unskilled an there is no obligation to pay workers full wages.

Female labourers are stereotyped as nimble-fingered which suggests that their knack for working with fine equipment is an inherent part of their biological make-up. Socialization within traditional cultures undervalues the work that women do by constructing it to be effortless. The task that women perform in domestic spheres require dexterity, discipline, and patience. Although such proficiencies remain unrecognized by employers and society,
these attributes are easily transferred to industrial settings where the majority of women’s work on assembly lines is comparably demanding. The capacity for making spatial assessments and the capability to endure ceaseless and monotonous work inevitably combine to create a subservient workforce for industrial forces.

Women form a ‘reserve army’ of labour for capitalists who are able to hire and fire at their discretion Confirmation of women’s dispensability is based upon the idea that they need to leave work for childbirth, which has been used as a pretext for assigning temporary employee status. Similarly, the instability of a female workforce leaves employers with flexibility, which affords them the ability to layoff staff when demands are slow, while still guaranteeing that there will be a workforce available when new orders are received.

To rejuvenate an aging workforce women are encourage to quit when they get beyond their prime. At other times, false claims are made requiring the dismissal of employees who are not able to maintain production quotas because of deteriorating performance. Inability to keep up with assembly production is quite often a consequence of employment conditions.

There are several documented cases where managers have been caught gradually adjusting the speed of conveyor lines so that the incremental changes would not be detected. Women work ten to twelve hours days with few breaks to go to the washroom. Consequently there is a tendency for women to develop bladder problems form not being able to use the washroom often enough. Moreover women suffer from headaches and eye complaints from being trapped breathing toxic chemicals from plastics and dusty air.

From the 1950’s, women in developing countries have experienced a major social revolution. Many have gained their new sense of autonomy at an extremely high price. Although they have been able to gain employment, it has most often been under appalling conditions. Despite the argument that women’s roles have been transformed form representing a burden on families to representing an asset, earnings they receive do not award them greater status within their communities.

Increasingly women workers in developing countries have become conscious of the glaring gap between their real experiences and notions promised by ideas like the ‘trickle-down’ effect. Especially disturbing for these women are claims of economic progress during periods such as East Asia’s ‘golden age of growth’, largely unattainable within their daily experiences.

The major dilemma facing the international community is how to help women in the context of export-oriented industries. The difficulty lies in the side-effects of action. For if people boycott materials produced in emerging nations in the hopes of having a positive affect on women’s lives, it is likely workers would be relegated to even worse working conditions the informal sector. The only viable solution is for people to continue to instruct themselves about the truth behind mechanisms of global pricing systems. By being vigilantly aware of the truth of ridiculously cheap mass products, consumers become able to demand responsibly made commodities. Citizens demanding fairly traded products reinforce an equitable global economy by reclaiming conscious control of their spending power.

1 comment:

Amelia said...

This is a horrible trend that definitely deserves more attention. Research also shows that when women earn money and are able to decide how to use it, they are often more productive than males; they reinvest it into things like family, education, and their communities. This is all the more reason to support fair trade initiatives that empower women! Some of my favorites are Global Mamas and the Women's Bean Project.