Invisible in production, targeted in consumption, trapped in management

Burcu Sarı Karademir - Academician

International Women’s Day on March 8 is not only an occasion to celebrate women's struggles and achievements but also a crucial opportunity to critically examine the position of women’s labour within corporations. After all, some of the most enthusiastic celebrators of March 8 are companies themselves.

While global corporations embrace sustainability rhetoric, they primarily focus on environmentally friendly production models, zero-waste policies, and carbon emission reductions. However, can we truly speak of a sustainable world if a company exploits women’s labour and forces them into exhaustion, even if it adopts eco-friendly production processes? The answer is, of course, no.

Multinational corporations, central to neoliberal economic policies, have become more powerful than many governments, thanks to their massive budgets, supply chains, and consumer influence. Yet, their power does not align with their responsibilities.

These corporations, controlling a significant portion of global trade and production, exert pressure on governments through investment and employment, demanding exemptions from environmental and labour regulations. More often than not, they obtain tax breaks, exemptions from environmental inspections, and the freedom to bypass decent working conditions. While global capital sees its profit margins soar through these privileges, governments turn a blind eye to environmental degradation and the exploitation of workers, boasting instead about attracting foreign investment and job creation.

Gender inequality remains one of the most profound and persistent injustices in social justice worldwide. Unfortunately, some of the biggest supporters of the rising tide of anti-gender equality movements are leading global social media corporations. When assessing the impact of corporate gender policies on society, we must consider how the toxic environment they foster shapes the world we live in—whether it makes it more or less livable.

Naturally, companies prioritise their profits. Expecting them to abandon this voluntarily would be unrealistic. However, as highlighted by the Sustainable Development Goals under responsible production and consumption, small individual consumer decisions can have significant impacts. Through conscious and collective action based on demands for equality, we must shape consumer behaviour to transform production processes and corporate policies.

WOMEN INVISIBLE IN PRODUCTION, TARGETED IN CONSUMPTION

Companies not only obscure the fact that they employ women in low-paid jobs within gendered sectors, but they also manipulate female consumers through marketing strategies, selling them the illusion that economic independence can be achieved through individual consumption—thus reinforcing traditional domestic roles. We know that while women in production are denied fair wages, those who consume are depicted as liberated through spending. Yet in reality, neither producing nor consuming grants true freedom to women.

Women’s labour within corporations is often concentrated in low-paid, flexible, and precarious jobs. Particularly in export processing zones, agriculture, textiles, the service industry, and care work, women are forced to work long hours for low wages. The common characteristics of these sectors is low status, insecurity, and intense exploitation. Despite being a pillar of production in these industries, women are relegated to gendered, unstable, and poorly paid roles. Policies of wage suppression and union-busting further erode job security, while unpaid care responsibilities at home place a double burden on women, rendering them the invisible support system of the economy. As they become physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted, they continue to sustain the system without recognition.

At the core of this system lies the notion that women’s labour is a disposable resource. Women’s capacity is over-exploited through both waged labour and unpaid care work, yet this exhaustion is never factored into sustainability calculations. The concept of depletion—a term used by feminist economic scholars—illustrates how women’s labour is consumed in an unsustainable manner. Whether in the workplace or at home, the demands of emotional and care work lead to both physical and mental exhaustion. However, corporations fail to account for this labour in their sustainability models—because it is considered "free" and, like nature, viewed as an "inexhaustible" resource. In reality, both nature and women’s labour are being depleted.

This International Women’s Day, it is time to challenge the most powerful yet least accountable actors in the global economy: corporations. We must ask them: What have you done to create a more equal, fair, and sustainable world for women? Where are the women? Under what conditions do they work?

Happiness is not in advertisements; it is in equality...

Note: This article is translated from the original Turkish version titled Üretimde görünmez, tüketimde hedefte, yönetimde camda, published in BirGün newspaper on March 8, 2025.