Image from pebblemag.com
The fast fashion industry has been continuously denounced for its carbon emissions and water usage, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. At the bottom of the production chain, workers ages 18 to 24 earn less than $3 a day, with 80% of these workers being women. These women work in life-threatening conditions and 1 in 3 female garment factory workers have reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace over a 12-month period. These conditions display how large companies benefit from exploiting their female workers while fully aware that most live in poverty and are in no means able to refuse these underpaid and overworked job positions.
On the other hand, the fast fashion industry has given opportunities for women in the workforce. Joelle Firzli, a fashion historian, curator and CEO of Tribute has said that the rapid growth of fast fashion brands goes hand-in-hand with the increase of women’s participation in the labor force. The working woman utilizes her wardrobe to communicate to a new status irrespective of her social and economic backgrounds. However, the exploitation of female workers on the factory floors outweighs any good fast fashion could have done.
Why is this important to discuss?
The fast fashion industry releases an estimated 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This proves that fast fashion is a large detriment to any possible progress for sustainability. Therefore, we as women must first acknowledge that the issue of fast fashion expands beyond just the environment and take a stance to protect other women in a disadvantaged position who are being exploited for their vulnerability. You do not have to be a climate change activist to realize how damaging fast fashion can be to the world around us. It starts with you.
Bibliography
Ahram, Y. (2020, March 2). Fast Fashion Is a Feminist Issue. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/fast-fashion-is-a-feminist-issue
Clothes & Climate Change: How a Fashion Choice Change Could Lead to Better Air Quality. (2020, July 28). GASP. https://gasp-pgh.org/2020/07/28/clothes-climate-change-how-a-fashion-choice-change-could-lead-to-better-air-quality/
Grundy, J. (2020, March 06). Why Fast Fashion Is a Feminist Issue. Good on you. https://goodonyou.eco/why-fast-fashion-is-a-feminist-issue/
Rattazzi, G. (2020, July 04). Why fast fashion is a feminist issue. ATTIRE media. https://www.attiremedia.com/articles/fast-fashion-feminist-issue
Comments