Behind a Cultural Icon: The Blue Jeans

Blue jeans is a clothing item that is considered to be a cultural icon durning our time. Yet would individuals ware and represent the blue jeans if the un talked about process that occurs durning production was publicly known and sewed beside their common tag? With companies constantly thriving for lower production cost the pressure for the ‘middleman’ and the ‘contractors’ to meet the quota is very much present leading these individuals to reach out beyond our nations borders to factories with lower wages and consists of a risky and dangerous working environment. Factories should provide a safe environment for their workers and properly pay them for their work.

Most blue jeans come from sweat shops in countries such as Vietnam, China, Eastern Europe and Mexico. Sweat shops are common in developing countries and industrialized countries. Sweat shops are working environments that are undeniably difficult and dangerous to their workers. With several workers being paid minimum wage if not lower and working an excessive amount of hours ranging from eleven to twelve per day usually seven days a week. Sweat shops have also been noted to have individuals who are not paid at all for their work, including immigrant labor, and has high chances of carrying diseases. Nike has been viewed as an example of sweat shop using child labor with a dangerous work environment. Making high profits is a factories main focus with providing a safe and workable environment laborers love will show on the product.

Companies should be able obligated to provide an additional tag stating the social and environment aspects that were used durning production. Ultimately consumers are able to control most of the companies behavior by whether they purchase the product. Customers are the most important factor to a business and necessary to keep it running and present. By businesses incorporating another tag that exhibits a companies resources for their creation next to the common washing prescription or general product information labels will not go without being read. The awareness of a companies production will determine whether a consumer chooses to support their production or not.

Photo Credit: http://www.denimology.com/2007/04/china_blue_denim_sweatshop_doc.php