The Exploitation of the #BossBabe: Multi-level Marketing Schemes and Gender Roles

 

 

 

 

 

The Exploitation of the #BossBabe: Multi-level Marketing Schemes and Gender Roles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dayna Wilson – 300113188

SOCI 1125 – 005: Introduction to Sociology

Dr. Siobhan Ashe

Douglas College

13 December, 2021

Word Count: 1431

 

 

 

When the multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme was initially ideated in the 1930s with Avon (then California Perfume Company), it afforded women the opportunity to make money independently of the allowances designated to them by their husbands, as was the norm at the time. This allowed women to gain a modicum of freedom previously unrealized and opened doors of female empowerment. A century later, however, the model and its outcomes have undoubtedly shifted. MLMs, which are characterized by person-to-person sales and the recruitment of fellow distributors, tend to disproportionately target women and exploit gender inequality. This frequently leads to the further marginalization of an already vulnerable population, resulting in economic strife as well as social alienation.

              When it comes to financial stability, it is a well documented fact that women experience poverty disproportionately to men. In Canada, more than 1.5 million women live in poverty, including 30% of single mothers (Canadian Women’s Foundation, 2021). Major causes of this poverty include a lack of affordable quality childcare, forcing women to choose between career progression and providing at-home care for her children, and the prevalence of unpaid domestic labour being undervalued and unpaid (Melo, 2019, p. 77). This reflects Marxist conflict theory of sociology, which describes the exploitation of labouring class by those who hold the balance of power. Under the capitalist economic system that Marx centred in his social critiques, the workforce is industrialized for the realization of maximum output and maximum profits for owners, a consequence of which is the inflexible work schedule that most workers are forced to observe. The lack of economic opportunities that allow for the flexibility women often require to care for their children make them ideal targets for MLM recruiters, who entice with promises of financial security and independence.

              The lure of earning a substantial income while making one’s own hours is so prevalent a tactic in MLM recruitment that it has spawned a sort of faux social movement. The hashtag #BossBabe has become widespread on social media, with a December 2021 search of Instagram revealing over 20 million incidences of its use. This hashtag is primarily associated with women who are involved in MLMs and is used to boast of the alleged perks and status accrued through said involvement. It is intimated that this #BossBabe movement is inherently feminist, and themes of female empowerment and self sustainability are woven throughout the narrative. One can purchase t-shirts, stickers, day planners, and more emblazoned with the slogan.

              The reality, however, is far from the popular fiction. In fact, according to a 2011 study commissioned by the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, nearly 99% of all MLM recruits lose money through participation (Taylor, 2011, p. 7-1) because most companies require sellers to purchase “sales kits” or otherwise invest in the company to become representatives. Yet the Direct Sellers Association of Canada reports that the industry is worth an estimated $4.15 billion in annual sales in Canada alone (Direct Sellers Association, n.d.). With a vast majority of participants realizing losses rather than gains, this means that the wealth generated “is going straight into the pockets of the rich company owners, the majority of which are male” (Wood, 2019). In the end, rather than delivering on much-touted promises of female empowerment, MLMs instead exploit women and rely on their unpaid labour to benefit a select few.

              Though economic exploitation is the foremost examined problem with the MLM scheme, it is far from the only aspect worth considering. Another notable facet is that so many products sold through direct sales are aimed at improving the performance of domestic labour: bakeware, spices, soaps, kitchen gadgets, and cleaning materials are all well represented in the industry. The sales and marketing of these products uphold traditional genders roles that expect women to be performing this labour. While it is true that any individual can purchase these products; marketing, including sales opportunities disguised as social get-togethers or “parties” are ultimately targeted at women. The irony in this situation is that in her attempt to obtain a reliable income, often to supplement the costs of unpaid domestic labour as upheld by gender roles, the MLM participant in turn preys on the adherence to gender roles experienced by other women.

Another expansive category of products sold under MLM schemes are predicated on the concept that women are inherently physically flawed. The market is saturated with diet drinks, weight loss products, make-up, nutrition shakes, and the like. The prevalence of such products relies on the commodification of women’s bodies and the expectation for women to conform to “socially constructed norms…[t]his often results in a woman experiencing herself as ageing disagreeably, as unattractive, undesirable, or even ugly” (Heggenstaller et al., 2018, p. 67). Success in selling products of this nature depend upon traditional gender roles of the ideal woman as being slim and physically attractive. Under Marxist theory, this commodification and subjugation of women’s bodies serves the capitalist goal of maximizing production; in this case, of cosmetic and self improvement products, which in turn upholds exploitative power structures.

              Additionally, the attempt to sell such products to friends and family carries with it the tacit implication that the target of the sale is themself flawed and in need of improvement. Reaching out with an unsolicited offer to purchase diet products or makeup can be interpreted as criticism and carries a considerable risk of offending the object of the sale. This can result in the fracturing of relationships and social alienation of the vendor.

               Bodies are not the only aspect of a woman being commodified through involvement in MLM schemes, however. The business model relies explicitly upon direct sales to those in one’s social sphere, and as such all her relationships become potential sales arrangements. Predacious tactics are encouraged in these sales, with women reaching out to casual acquaintances, old friends, and even friends of friends via social media to peddle her wares. Often these conversations leave the target feeling manipulated or deceived, as though their value as a friend is reduced to the dollar amount of sales they may potentially generate. In one particularly disturbing example, a woman interviewed for this paper described a situation in which her close friend, who was involved in several MLMs, was referenced in social media posts by fellow vendors after her death from cancer. The death was used to encourage readers to sign up for the company “in honour” of the decedent (M.D., 2021).

              Such pressure is not an isolated phenomenon in these sales, either. Concepts of female camaraderie, often romanticized in media such as Sex and the City and Bridesmaids and reliant upon gender role expectations, are impressed upon sales targets for the MLM saleswoman. The target is encouraged to support her friend, with the implication being that a “good” friend would purchase the product on offer. To this end, relationships are reduced to tactical calculations. If a target indicates that they’re not interested in purchasing, the vendor will frequently abruptly end contact and abandon the relationship, even in some cases when it had previously been a close one. This relates to conflict theory concepts of the prioritization of capital over all else, and can also parallel exchanges of social capital, defined as “investment in social relations with expected returns in the marketplace” (Lin & Smith, 2001, p. 19)

               While the financial consequences of involvement in MLM schemes have been well documented in the fields of business and economics, the empirical impact on social cohesion is an equally relevant and valuable consideration. Despite claiming to espouse feminist attitudes of empowerment and fiscal independence, MLMs rely on the exploitation of traditional female gender roles of conventional attractiveness, social participation, and domestic labour for success. As noted by sociologist Marie Valentova, “being a woman and having traditional gender role views significantly decreases social behaviour” (Valentova, 2016, p. 174). And indeed, the behaviours undertaken by those who participate in MLMs are frequently contrary to social cohesion, resulting in the participant potentially losing previously valued relationships and becoming socially isolated. In addition to perpetuating cyclical poverty and the continued entrenchment of harmful gender expectations, this can also result in significant mental health complications for an already marginalized demographic.

              The #BossBabe phenomenon has been extremely successful in framing MLM participation as trendy, feminist, and lucrative. Instagram filters and emoticons have done an excellent job of disguising the reality of the industry: that illusions of success are just that, constructed to uphold capitalist power structures that disproportionately impact women and rely on gender inequity to accrue capital for a select few. In dismantling this illusion, it becomes possible to substitute a more organic, productive ideal of feminist support and empowerment without the focus on sales and capital. Perhaps the undeniably intensive efforts of those #BossBabes might be better served #DismantlingThePatriarchy.

 

 

 

 

References

 

Canadian Women’s Foundation. (n.d.) The Facts About Women and Poverty in Canada.

Retrieved from https://canadianwomen.org/the-facts/womens-poverty/

Direct Sellers Association. (n.d.) Industry Statistics and Research. Retrieved from

https://www.dsa.ca/industry-statistics-and-research/

Heggenstaller, A.K., Rau, A., Coetzee, J.K., Smit, R., & Ryen, A. (2018.) Beauty and the Cosmetic

Secret. Qualitative Sociology Review, 14(4), 66-84. doi:10.18778/1733-8077.14.4.05

Lin, N., and Smith., J. (2001.) Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action. Retrieved

from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/douglascollege-ebooks/reader.action?docID=201839

McKenzie, K., Harpham, T., & Wilkinson, R. (2006). Social Capital and Mental

Health. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/douglascollege-ebooks/detail.action?docID=290909#

M.D., personal communication, December 13, 2021.

Melo, C.L. (2019.) The Feminization of Poverty: A Brief Analysis of Gender Issues and Poverty

among Women and Girls. Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse. Retrieved from https://witness.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/default/article/view/6/10

Taylor, J.M. (2011). The Case (for and) Against Multi-level Marketing. Consumer Awareness

Institute, 7-1. Retrieved from https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_comments/trade-regulation-rule-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-ftc.r511993-00008%C2%A0/00008-57281.pdf

Valentova, M. (2016.) How Do Traditional Gender Roles Relate to Social Cohesion? Focus

on Differences Between Women and Men. Social Indicators Research, 127(1), 153-178. doi:10.1007/s11205-015-0961-2

Wood, J. (2019.) The Lies of the Bossbabes- How MLMs Are Holding Back Feminism.

Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@woodthewriter/the-lies-of-the-bossbabes-how-mlms-are-holding-back-feminism-9cf5607c746e

Wrenn, M.V., & Waller, W. (2021.) Boss Babes and Predatory Optimism: Neoliberalism, Multi-

level Marketing Schemes, and Gender. Journal of Economic Issues, 55(2), 423-431. doi:10.1080/00213624.2021.1908805