Love Letter No:10 Women, equality

“We are part of the Earth and connected to the Earth.

Therefore, we have no hierarchy like a tree in a forest, a small bush also exist.

We have the same rights to live and help each other ."

Vandana Shiva

Will humanity stop discriminating and be able to move forward?

Does being a woman have anything to do with sustainability in fashion? Why is the issue of empowering women on the agenda? What is the issue to be created and where is the place of women in the fashion world?

Women, gender, equality, changes over time, when did women enter the industry and why did they have to leave? When these seemingly different themes (gender, equality and time) come together, we can talk about sustainability. “Woman”, which is a trending subject in the fast fashion world, is not conveyed correctly. Will it save the solution to the problems created by today's speed with the words of empowerment to be provided to women, or will it be equality? In the fashion and textile world, inequality, especially women's inequality, is a reality. Today, we are far from talking about equality, while women are producing our clothes under difficult living conditions in one part of the world, while women are marketing them in another place and even women are turning into a product. Above all, for a more sustainable, equal future, gender equality is not only a basic human right, but also a necessity for a peaceful world.

Under trends such as #womenempowerment, #supportwomen, #girlpower that grow almost equally with the word sustainability, the message actually intended to be given is deeper than you think. From Christian Dior's "We Should All Be Feminists" t-shirts to new collections launched to coincide with International Women's Day, to countless products sold, slogan t-shirts with messages of empowering women are now everywhere, but the reality is that women working for the fashion industry are everywhere. an invalid message is given for most of them. Unfortunately, it is not possible for gender-based inequality to fit into t-shirt slogans. No wonder erroneous information has created more confusion than ever before. The clothes we wear elsewhere in the world are made by other women who are no different from us. Having similar aspirations and dreams, such as living a good life, providing for his family, and most importantly, being safe at work.

More than 60 million women work in the apparel industry, and more than 80% of them are millennial women aged 18-24 . In the transparency reports published by Fashion Revolution in 2018, only 40% of brands and the fashion industry provided information on capacity building projects focused on gender equality and women's empowerment in the supply chain, while only 13% published detailed supplier guidance on the problems faced by women workers. Of the 150 brands surveyed, only 37 reported signing up for the Women's Empowerment Principles, an initiative of the United Nations Gender Equality Agency, or publishing the company's overall strategy and goals to advance women's empowerment.

https://www.fashionrevolution. org/metoo-how-can-fashion- empower-all-women/

It is true that in order to achieve equality, it is necessary to start with women because women are always in the background in many countries of the world. Since it has become a symbol of reproduction rather than production, it may take many years to break this, perhaps even until the growth of other generations. Psychological research suggests that the reality of women is characterized by commitment and relationships as opposed to autonomy and logic as in men. Women place much more emphasis on collaborative relationships rather than creating a separate economy for their work. At the same time, the fact that women are more sensitive and vulnerable to the environment is seen as an issue that can be turned into a positive one within the framework of inequality.

The Gender Gap in Environmental Attitudes: The Case of Perceived Vulnerability to Risk Richard J. Bord and Robert E. O'Connor

Speaking in an interview with Remake's production workers in Mexico, a woman says: “I think the main problem with the factory is that they see us as producing objects; not like women, not like mothers, not like sisters, not like daughters. They just see us as cheap labor. " Moreover, there is a lot of hard work, with garment workers working 60 hours or more per week in extremely dangerous conditions, violating the safety regulations of factory buildings, discrimination based on gender, age and pregnancy, for little or no pay.

https://remake.world/films/ made-in-mexico-makers-speak-out-for-womens-rights/

Understanding that the issue in ethical fashion is the empowerment of a woman is one of the important points. Being a feminist today is much more than a trend, and while it's positive that it's become a mainstream idea, we need to question its reality. Many brands have slogans and themes of "female empowerment" , so they are not asked if any woman is powerless in the process of making these clothes. If we really want to be feminists and stand up for every woman's right to be safe, have equal incomes, and live her best life, we need to advocate this for every woman, even working men, from all over the world. The issue is one step further from supporting small-scale local brands and especially each other as brands with female entrepreneurship.

Yours sincerely

roxan