Gender Inequality in Trade

During the course of my UH 370 course, we have discussed many topics relevant to inequality as a result of globalization. One of the major recent focuses has been on disposable women and gender inequality. In Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism by Melissa W. Wright, she discusses how women working in Chinese and Mexican factories are viewed as “disposable,” having no value besides their bodily function in the work place. In these factories, the women are expected to submit to the male figure. The employers state, “We want our assembly workers to stay for about two years. After that, they want to leave anyway.” This is because of the owner’s distrust and the women’s inability to physically work as effectively as desired for a long period of time.

Then we ask ourselves, so how exactly does gender inequality relate to international trade and why does this inequality continuously occur?

With trade, whether it be between countries, states, or companies, each person is trying to make their economy, lifestyle, or product appear most desirable in order to promote trade with others. In many cases, to get the best deal each country, state, or company may go to drastic measures to do so. They want to make or generate their product for the cheapest amount in order to obtain a larger profit when trading. Gender inequality and poor treatment of women workers is a large contributor to the “race to the bottom”, as Zahra Karimi puts it. This uncaring attitude and treatment of many working women for one’s own gain exactly portrays the little value women have in many factories, as mentioned by Wright.

Some arguments that state various economic reforms during the 1980s helped to decrease gender inequality and created employment for impoverished women are correct in some respect: it allowed women to have jobs and work for themselves. However, the type of work available to them was predominantly in textiles and technology, which comes with little payment, cramped working spaces, long hours, and few rights. Factory work for men, on the other hand, was predominant in car factories, where the pay and treatment was better. These women were being taken advantage of: employers knew that these women would submit to nearly any type of work, as long as it provided some sort of income; thus, fair treatment was not an incredible priority.

The women working for these large scale companies face inequalities while in the workplace. And, as a result of the poor worker treatment in factories that trade induces, historically predominant factories have dwindled, removing work opportunities, and many independent workers have faced inequality.

In Iran, because of the globalized economy, women who create handmade carpets have faced adversity. By treating women unequally in order to increase a company’s profit, as mentioned above, carpets sold in India, China, and Pakistan sell for half the price of those in Iran. Earlier, in a less globalized world, women in Iran made these carpets exclusively through large corporations in factories, but now this profession is less common and done from the household to cut costs and because of the inability to be competitive in the global market. Now, because of harsh competition with other countries, their payment for this work is minimal. It is preferable to sell the carpet independently to get a little bit more money for their year-long project. But, through this process, payment often takes a long time to reach the artisan. To get the money more quickly, most women work for home-based corporations and go through a trader to sell their work of art. But they only receive half the profit. Either way, by working independently or for a company, these Iranian women do not get paid much, and this most likely resides in the fact that they work they complete is historically underappreciated.

We see that gender inequality is expressed in two different ways because of women's work with textiles and technology. The first is the poor treatment of women who work in factories, traditionally associated with harsh treatment, as corporations compete in a “race to the bottom.” The second is a result of this race: many women workers are finding it difficult to make much of a profit when trading their goods to compete with the cheap prices of large corporations.

The source of this problem lies at the head of a company and his never-ending desire to make the most money as possible when trading – without considering the ethical treatment of his female employees and that the work they perform is equally desirable for praise as men's work. This is where corrections need to be made so that gender inequality from trade becomes a thing of the past.

Works Cited

Wright, Melissa W. Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism. 1st ed. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, 2006. Print.

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Diminishing Inequality: Fair Trade

With all of the inequalities, unfair payment, and poor working conditions associated trade, there has to be some way to limit this situation. Fair trade is just one small step in the right direction. This organization and “social movement” has made an attempt to eliminate such inequalities to working people around the globe.

The basic idea behind Fair Trade is considered a “trading partnership” which provides the artisans and farmers with a fair price for their work. This ensures that whatever product that the farmer or artisan sells, he or she will be paid a reasonable price. Additionally, Fair Trade cuts out the middleman; thus, a more direct trade between worker and consumer is instituted to help to facilitate a better payment to the farmer and artisan. Fair Trade also guarantees that working conditions are high-quality. All employees are treated well and do not perform their job in harsh conditions, such as sweatshops. Also, it aids in boosting the confidence of the workers and empowers them to work more efficiently because they know that they will be rewarded for their hard work.

This is a photo of a woman named Bertha Fanueli Matowo, a Fair Trade farmer in Tanzania.

Coffee is one of the major products that over 20 Fair Trade groups market to consumers around the globe. Here’s a look at just how it works:

Coffee is considered a common and popular crop, but doesn’t seem to be very profitable. In 2001 there was a very large coffee crisis going on around the globe because of overproduction. Thus, the price that farmers were getting for their coffee bean production was around $.45 per pound. From this disaster, many farmers and their families suffered from starvation, lack of health care, and inability to receive an education. Since this crisis, Fair Trade has helped make sure that coffee farmers in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and other countries receive adequate payment for the manufacturing of this product. The minimum payment that farmers are guaranteed to receive is now $1.25.
To view a graph of guaranteed coffee prices, visit fairtrade.net.

This is a photo of Dankan as a child.

To further express the great benefits of Fair Trade on a more personal level, here is one particularly moving story of a man named Dankan, from Kenya. As a young boy he learned artisan skills and carving from his father. As he grew older, he used these skills to obtain his income and support himself. Despite all of the grueling work, he made very little money: 500 Kenyan shillings per month, which is equal to about $6. However, by 2003, he was introduced to the idea of Fair Trade, and his reaction was priceless: “‘Just tell me again, so that I understand. We carve items for you at a fair price that we agree beforehand and you pay us before you take the carvings away?’ ‘Yes.’” Because of being introduced to Fair Trade and being paid a reasonable wage, Dankan greatly benefited financially. Additionally, Fair Trade encouraged him to continue being an independent artisan and kept him away from working for other large corporations where his wage would be significantly lower, and he would be treated unfairly.

Photo courtesy of GlobalNet21.

Fair Trade is truly a wonderful way for trade to still be done, but in a just way where the workers are paid fair wages, are able to work in decent conditions, and are encouraged and willing to work hard to be successful. It also helps in promoting farmers and artisans to treat the environment well with the use of organic materials and practices as well as limited use of pesticides and other toxins.

Fair Trade was introduced in the early 1940s. Since about 1989, it has increasingly grown in popularity as more and more people are becoming familiar with this type of equal trade agreement and the fair treatment of workers this movement assures. Now, Fair Trade products can be found in many popular stores such as Starbucks, Fred Meyer, Costco, Target, and Safeway.

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