How Women Can Change the World (Part 1 of 2)
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Women have more power over global systems of injustice than anyone seems to realize.
And leveraging that power would not only make the world a better place, it would also make women happier.
Let me explain…
Economically speaking, women are the most influential demographic in the world because we spend more money and buy more stuff than anyone else. We do the Costco runs, the Target runs, we stock the pantry, buy for the kids, and shop for ourselves.
And because we’re the ones that control the purse strings, every corporation, marketing company, and organization in the world is vying for our dollar.
The world revolves around women’s demands… or, at least, that’s how it should work.
Unfortunately, however, this has been twisted and the world now revolves around a cycle of women’s manipulation and oppression.
See, in order to get women to spend more money and grow the economy faster, corporations and companies create “needs” by manipulating women into thinking we have all kinds of “problems” and then offer a “solution” to the alleged problem.
“Systems follow women. So let’s lead them toward justice, equality, and a world that values people over profit.”
A great example of this is all the armpit lightening deodorants being marketed to women. Have you seen these? In an effort to make women buy more product, women are told through a series of “educational” ads that if we have darker skin in our underarms, we should be embarrassed and ashamed about it. Then, Dove offers us a solution: armpit whitening deodorant. And since shame is powerful… it works.
But even if women do have darker skin under their arms, that is clearly not a real problem because no such problem exists for men. (I’d also like to point out that this “problem” primarily exists for women of color… just one example of how these shame-based marketing strategies perpetuate racism.)
Now, take this and multiply it by everything - from our bodies and clothes to our homes and social lives, women are made to feel inadequate so we think we “need” things, so we keep buying, and keep driving the economy.
Our constant feeling of needing things leaves us feeling overwhelmed, frazzled, discontent, exhausted, and broke.
On top of that, because we feel the need to buy so many things, we need it to all be super cheap. So in order to meet our manipulated demand for cheap stuff, companies exploit workers (mostly women), cut corners environmentally, and leave behind a trail of mistreatment and destruction.
Our own mistreatment leads to the mistreatment of people and planet… it perpetuates systems of injustice ranging from slavery, trafficking, poverty, and climate change to sexism, racism, and violence.
This is the impact that we’re having on the world. But it doesn’t have to be. We have the power to interrupt systems of injustice and build them back better.
Because systems follow women.
Because as the world’s primary consumer, we have the power to reject the fake problems and bullsh*t solutions they are selling us and demand the kind of world we want—a world where people and planet are respected. A world where everyone is treated with justice and equality.
And they will have no choice but to create it for us because they need us and our money more than we need them and their fake “solutions.”
How do we do this? There are two parts to it:
1. Figure out what you really care about and refuse to spend your limited time, money and energy on anything that doesn’t support that value.
Every choice we make sends a message—it signals what we want more of.
Whether we like it or not, every purchase we make, every item we stalk online, and even the stuff we talk about buying is tracked by marketing agencies and corporations. They are watching (it’s creepy but true.)
That means, if we refuse to buy stuff that’s made by slaves, they’ll stop enslaving people to make it.
If we refuse to buy products that harm the environment, they’ll stop making stuff that harms the environment.
On the other hand...
If we go out of our way to support brands that are culturally diverse and intentionally inclusive, more brands will adopt those values.
If we buy products that are sustainably made, they will create more sustainably made products.
A great recent example of this is Target’s move to offer clothing made out of recycled plastic water bottles. The reason they gave? They heard from their customers that sustainability and making a positive social impact were important to them, and Target wanted to show their customers that those things are “important to Target too.”
The truth? Target has to keep their customers happy and meet their demands—it’s basic marketing and economics. They were happy to make clothing out of toxic dies and new plastic right up until customers demanded something different (by purchasing it elsewhere).
2. Instead, invest those resources in things that make you feel alive and make the world a better place.
Imagine if we all did this...
Imagine if women were so busy contributing to the world in meaningful ways that we didn’t have time to even notice messaging designed to make us feel inadequate.
Imagine if women used their money, their influence, and their voice to shape a world where people and planet were treated well.
The world would be completely different! And so would we. Research shows that if women consumed less, shopped less, and spent more time on things that are truly meaningful to us, we would be happier and more fulfilled.
Systems follow women. So let’s lead them toward justice, equality, and a world that values people over profit.
Let’s demand the kind of world we want to see, by living fully into who we are and what we care about and by refusing to support systems of injustice in our everyday choices.
This is how we build a better world.
Want to know where to start? Read the next article in this series.
