The Politics of Gender in Global Production

When they grow older, the two sisters face many challenges. They did not have enough food, and their parents were willing to go without so that the kids could eat more. Since their father did not take them to the hospital, some of their siblings died of poisoning (Love Betray, 2013). After having a job at a garment factory, everything changed. They can now afford a decent meal, and unlike the bamboo shelter where they grew up, they now live in a concrete house with a lovely roof. As a result, a job at the factory provided them with the opportunity to live a better life than they had previously.
The older sister had a chance to make few choices in her life. When she grew up, their culture meant that women were to be married off to avoid being a burden to their family and she has to stay in an unhappy marriage (Love Betrayal, 2013). For the younger sister life was a bit different hence, she can make her own choices. She did not have to undergo any planned marriage. The experience at the factory brought up the difference between their lives because the younger sister has a bank account and can save some of her money but the elder sister has to send all her earnings to their parents.

Working in this factory is beneficial to the laborers. Most of them depend on these jobs to earn their living because they are uneducated and cannot get a formal education. The dangerous working conditions are the least of their concerns. Most of these factories are in bad shape and now and then there are cases of the buildings collapsing or burning with the laborers trapped inside (Allchin, 2013; Stillman, 2013). But despite these poor working conditions, these industries still exist because of corruption.

References

Allchin, J. (2013). Death Mill: How the ready-made garment industry captured the Bangladeshi

state. Foreign Policy. Retrieved From: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/09/bangladesh_factory_collapse

“Love, Betrayal and the Planet Money t-shirt,” Planet Money, aired November 20, 2013, 22

minutes. Listen at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/11/20/246395456/episode-497-love-betrayal-and-the-planet-money-t-shirt

Stillman, S. (2013) “Death Traps: The Bangladeshi garment-factory disaster”. The New Yorker.

Retrieved From: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/death-traps-the-bangladesh-garment-factory-disaster