Authors Barbara Ehrenreich, and Annette Fuentes reveal the exploitation of women working and struggling to survive in third world countries in their essay entitled “Life on the Global Assembly Line.” Which was written and targeted in Ms. Magazine. Jobs in the factory and street working are the main ways of income for these women; young and old and unfortunately, it is their only choice because of government laws and because of how they are brought up and raised. In some cases, women are gaining the strength to rebel, to riot for change. These cases spread the word on their cry for help in hopes that this change they want, will one day become reality. So, where does this all happen? In what we call Third World countries such as
As mentioned before, the women, for the most part do not enjoy themselves. These young women have no identity, no time for living a life that is fulfilled, not even time to raise a family. However to them, it might be fulfilling having the job they have and making the wage they receive. To some it’s just another day. I believe that the women should have more options for work. America’s huge brands should reconsider the placement and regulations for their factories. Instead of treating them like robots and pumping them with amphetamines, create their work experience more bearable with the common sense of having fresh air, decent breaks, masks to protect their lungs from toxic fumes and substances, which then just lead to chronic illnesses. Min Chong Suk, a sewing machine operator wrote in her diary writes “…there have been increasing numbers of people getting tuberculosis, bronchitis, and eye diseases. Since we are women, it makes us so sad when we have pale, unhealthy, wrinkled faces…It seems to me that no one knows our blood dissolves into the threads and seams, with sighs and
The mere idea of sweatshops, let alone their existence, seems cruel and unusual to people like us, especially in today's day and age. After all, in sweatshops "workers are subject to extreme exploitation. This includes... (not) enabling workers to cover ...
Young girls were not allowed to open the windows and had to breathe in the dust, deal with the nerve-racking noises of the machines all day, and were expected to continue work even if they 're suffering from a violent headache or toothache (Doc 2). The author of this report is in favor of employing young women since he claimed they seemed happy and they loved their machines so they polished them and tied ribbons on them, but he didn 't consider that they were implemented to make their awful situations more bearable. A woman who worked in both factory and field also stated she preferred working in the field rather than the factory because it was hard work but it never hurt her health (Doc 1), showing how dangerous it was to work in a factory with poor living conditions. Poor living conditions were common for nearly all workers, and similar to what the journalist saw, may have been overlooked due to everyone seeming
In the reading I chose, "Some Lessons from The Assembly Line", by Andrew Braaksma, is about a college student who in the summer time works for a factory all day long. To me, this reading is about a man maybe in his 20 's gaining great work experience during his summer breaks while also saving money. He also uses his work experiences in his college assignments, his knowledge from learning real life experiences at work. My opinion about this reading is that it is very informative. He is learning lessons and learning how to apply them to his school work. For Andrew, working in a factory seems like the best option, he saves money while at the same time, gaining very valuable experiences. He loves his school, and when he returns, he is so relieved to be back. He has been in a factory all summer while other classmates take it easy with small part time jobs. The articles theme of "Some Lessons from The Assembly Line" is to help inform people about how important education can be because he compares college life and work life, how he learns new experiences at work, and how much he appreciates being able to attend school.
Imagine being employee number 101 out of 1001. Now imagine working on an assembly line in a hot room filled with 1000 other women frantically assembling products for first world countries to use for ten seconds before discarding for a newer version. This job pays enough for you to get by but living in a third world country with low pay isn’t easy. What many people don’t understand is that the cost of production in a third world country is more inexpensive than it is in America. Hiring women to work in horrid conditions decreases employee loss because they are not rambunctious like men. “Life on the Global Assembly Line” by Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes clearly illustrates the hardships women go through for U.S. corporation production. Corporate powers have resorted to building production plants in third world countries to save money. U.S. corporate powers take advantage of third world
Female children born into low income families in Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean are burdened with a stereotype that their male counterparts will never know. When faced with the gender oppression their society has constantly been feeding, and the fact that so many women must act as the single financial heads of their families, many women of the Caribbean must settle for low paying occupations associated with 'female' or domestic labor. For women born into families at the bottom of the economic ladder, there is little hope of social mobility or escape from the fist of poverty. In most cases, the cycle continues to feed itself from mother to daughter. In my paper I will demonstrate this cycÀle by examining the Caribbean women's role in the family as head of the household and the education, employment and survival strategies characteristic to many of these women. I will conclude my paper by discussing some of the new organizations and movements that have surfaced in the Caribbean within the past thirty years that are fighting for women's empowerment.
With the development of a global market place, industry and manufacturing is no longer confined to its mother country. Worldwide demand has created an expanded market for competitive goods and services. Consequently, many large corporations have located their primary centers of production overseas in third world nations, which manufacture goods at bottom line costs. This demand for cheaply produced goods has also lead to a demand for laboring workers (Henderson 49). As a result, millions of children have become bonded laborers to fulfill this need for cheap labor. Essentially, the unknowing consumer fuels this pr...
Many societies face the much overlooked problem of child labor and sweatshops in the fashion industry. Recently, Americans were stunned to learn that their apple pie sweetheart, Kathie Lee Gifford was associated with the exploitation of underage workers in Honduras. Gifford's story began the resurgence of knowledge of the growing problem of sweatshops in today's society. Contrary to popular belief, sweatshops still exist across the world in both third world countries and super powers such as America. Sweatshops incorporate the inhumane exploitation of workers, many of whom are underage, by providing extremely low wages as well as expecting unrealistic time commitments. In addition, the workers lack benefits and very few sweatshops abide by the required health codes. Sweatshops are obviously a growing problem that will not disappear with out change. Although the United States government has begun to take steps to alleviate the problem, there must be an increase in both awareness and legislation.
Mies, Maria. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour. New York: Zed Books, 1998.
In terms of the media, men are both seen and heard much more than women are. Women’s biological events are typically not studied into vast detail. Furthermore, women of color are severely unnoticed in psychology research (30). An area in which women go especially unnoticed is domestic work. There are numerous women who immigrate from the Caribbean, Latin America, and other developing countries, to North America. Upon entering North America, these women work in areas where they provide domestic work, such as child care, until they can earn a green card. Matlin (2012) reports further, “They may be expected to work every day—with no time off and no health insurance—for a fraction of the minimum-wage salary. Many of the women report that their employers insult them, do not let them leave the house, and treat them much like modern-day slaves” (226). While this situation sounds like something that would occur in a third world country, it is occurring right in our own backyards. In addition to domestic work, numerous women and their families become involved with garment work. Many women go unnoticed working in sweatshops, where there are numerous labor laws regarding wages and working conditions violated daily. These sweatshops occur all over the world, from North America to Latin America. Matlin recalls a story from one of her students, saying, “Several months later, Ling’s mother began to work on a garment, without asking for the supervisor’s permission. The supervisor then punched Ling’s mother in the chest, and the family called the police to report the assault. The manager then fired the entire family” (226). It is shocking that women go unnoticed and unreported in these unethical and disturbing conditions. In addition to this, women often go unnoticed in health care. Throughout history, women have often been
In chapter 8 of Global Issues, Local Arguments, June Johnson exposes the concept that women are being used as a tactic and war as well as being sexually abused. In “Defending Human Rights: Human Trafficking, Forced Child Labor, and Rape as a Weapon of War, (384-439)”developing countries women are being treated unfairly as well having little say in the government leading to a delay in fixing the issue. Johnson also includes “Ten Radical Acts for Congo the New Year (434-41).” These issues were caused by the end of slavery and thus leading to people needing a new source of workers. The effects of the Ill treatment consist of children and women dying. Many stake holders to fixing the problem is to involve the women in the government. Unless stakeholders
The individuals in Omelas attempt to forget who they oppress in order to maintain their perfect environment. The child of Omelas is stripped of its rights as a human and forced to live in gruesome conditions. “The floor is dirt, a little damp to the touch, as cellar dirt usually is. The room is about three paces long and two wide: a mere broom closet or disused tool room” (LeGuin 4) This child is pushed away from society. The people of Omelas understand that this goes on, but intend to do nothing about it. This concept is involuntary followed by not only the people of Omelas but people in the real world. Just like the residence of Omelas, we oppress factory/garment workers who are forced to live in harsh conditions and fight to keep our needs happy. In his short article, “California’s Garment Workers Reveal…” Davis goes out into the field to explore the conditions and neglect that garment workers face. Davis then interviews a woman who is the head of a labor advocacy group. “ imagine what that heat might feel like with no ventilation,’… Rough conditions—working 10 or more hours a day…baking-hot room…part of the job ” (Davis, Chris. "California 's Garment Workers Reveal: Sweatshops Aren 't Just a Problem Overseas." TakePart. N.p., n.d. Web.) These garment workers work endlessly to meet the needs that the big businesses set. Just like the outside entity that controls the rules set for the
“There are at least 12.3 million persons in forced labour today” (www.ilo.org). A great number of the victims are poverty-stricken people in Asia, “whose vulnerability is exploited by others for a profit” (www.ilo.org).
Women worked mainly in the garment industry. Their working conditions were less than desirable and they worked for lower wages and long hours. Women formed the Industrial Ladies Garment Workers Union to represent laborers in sweatshops. They event...
Mistreatment of women in the workforce has been an ongoing issue ever since women have been introduced into the work environment. While some issues are specific to certain workplaces, others are issues that are continuously noticed almost everywhere. There are many who experience poverty around the world, but research has shown that along with ethnic and racial minorities (of said country), women have been consistently among the most disadvantaged and programs to help those in poverty that do not take gender inequality into account have consistently failed to help women out of these circumstances. (International Development Agency (USAID) “Women, Men and Development”) “Men and women often are poor and for different reasons, experience poverty differently, and have differing capacities to withstand or escape poverty.”(Whitehead, Ann Failing Women, Sustaining Poverty: Gender in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers) There have been many instances...
Child Labor is not an isolated problem. The phenomenon of child labor is an effect of economic discrimination. In different parts of the world, at different stages of histories, laboring of child has been a part of economic life. More than 200 million children worldwide, some are as young as 4 and 5 years old, are slaves to the production line. These unfortunate children manufacture shoes, matches, clothing, rugs and countless other products that are flooding the American market and driving hard-working Americans out of jobs. These children worked long hours, were frequently beaten, and were paid a pittance. In 1979, a study shows more than 50 million children below the age of 16 were considered child labor (United Nation labors agency data). In 1998, according to the Campaign for Labor rights that is a NGO and United Nation Labor Agency, 250 million children around the world are working in farms, factories, and household. Some human rights experts indicate that there are as many as 400 million children under the age of 15 are performing forced labor either part or full-time under unsafe work environment. Based upon the needs of the situation, there are specific areas of the world where the practice of child labor is taking place. According to the journal written by Basu, Ashagrie gat...