How Electronics Empower Women in Bangladesh ?

Etched in my memory : Back in the 90’s, my mother had a packed schedule as a teacher and also did chores like washing clothes and cooking on the firewood stove (Chula). Her hands were dry and her nails were smudged. I couldn’t remember when she used nail polish due to manual soap washing. During winter evenings, my eyes would tear from the smoke when I tried to warm food at my suburban home. Three decades later, advanced technological improvements in electronics have made it so that washing machines and microwaves are viable. In Bangladesh, the progression is good, and there is in an increase in the female workforce.

Working Women in Bangladesh: They are increasing on a yearly basis and shifting from joint family to nuclear family.There has been a 35% percent growth of women employment in the past decade, but men still out outnumber them. Regardless, the growth was due to the industrial sector, especially in apparel and services. However, agriculture is still their top employer. The rise of corporate business and dedicated government policy also helped, along with the enrollment of women in education. According to the ILO report ( “World Employment and Social Outlook" , in 2017, the total number of employed people in Bangladesh stood at 63.7 million, of which 28.4% or 18.1 million were women and 71.7% or 45.7 million were male. 

Hours of Joy : The Bangladeshi woman can save a lot of time and money using washing machines and microwaves. For example, 30-40 minutes of using a washing machine (without having to attend the washing machine during that period) can save 2 hours of effort of hand washing. Additionally, only 15-20 minutes are needed to make food warm before having it. About 1,000 precious hours would be saved per year for a woman. When it comes to electricity consumption, only 500 to 800 BDT might be needed per month depending on the brand choice. This involves electricity and the depreciated value of the machine considering the 10 year warranty period.

Amazingly, 10,000 BDT can compensate for 1,000 hours of joy for women. Consider this: it is only 10 BDT or about 1 cent per hour.

The Global Reference for Women’s Liberty : Helen Fielding, a philosopher and teacher at the department of women’s studies and feminist research at the University of Western Ontario, spoke some valuable words about women’s status. She said, “…not only liberated by technology, but also need the will and desire to go into the workforce. Women still are the ones who tend to be responsible for the work done in the home. We talk about the double day of work women have. So, providing technology that makes work in the home easier would enable women to be able to work."

Electronics Market in Bangladesh : The access to washing machines for urban population is only at 15% and the access to microwaves is at 25%. That is because about 1,000 washing machines and 15,000 microwaves are sold per year. For renowned brands, such as Samsung and LG, the price range is from 30,000 to 95,000 BDT. They are mostly top loading, but front loading machines are becoming popular. Local and Chinese brands range from 12,000 to 30,000 BDT. About microwaves, local brands are from 5,000 to 15,000 BDT and renowned brands are from 8,000 to 25,000 BDT. However, international brands usually result in higher customer satisfaction, and the latest technology involves the saving of electricity along with durability. A great advancement for Bangladesh is that the Samsung microwave has been getting assembled in Bangladesh in successful partnership with the dependable Fair Electronics.

Just to conclude : Electronics are saving women time to exude their womanly prowess that will help turn the into a better place. For now, the women in Bangladesh are catching up very quickly.