Bohra ladies are utilizing social media to entry enterprise alternatives whereas sustaining their non secular traditions. (Georgia de Lotz/Unsplash)
Girls from non secular communities around the globe, just like the Dawoodi Bohras, are harnessing the potential of social media platforms to arrange or develop their companies and construct entrepreneurial networks. The convenience of entry, broad attain and collaborative nature of those platforms is offering extra ladies with monetary alternatives beforehand unavailable to them.
Analysis reveals that faith can impression ladies’s talents to launch, function and maintain a enterprise. Spiritual attitudes in direction of entrepreneurship have an effect on the help, monetary or emotional, that ladies get from their households and communities.
However non secular necessities may also present the premise for entrepreneurship. Norms and customs round modesty or particular non secular costume code can grow to be beneficial sources of earnings for female-led enterprises.
But, many ladies wrestle to construct companies or kind networks attributable to gender segregation guidelines that discourage working exterior the house and make it logistically difficult.
Accessing alternatives
Utilizing social media has helped many ladies navigate these points by enabling them to conduct their enterprise from the privateness of their houses. They’ve been confirmed to supply ladies extra alternatives to attach personally and professionally.
The interactive nature of those platforms blurs social and geographical boundaries to kind digital communities. Via platforms, ladies can have interaction in dialogue and construct networks of collaboration that present help and suggestions.
Social media is offering ladies in non secular communities new entrepreneurial alternatives.
(Shutterstock)
On the similar time they’ll overcome many real-life difficulties and limitations. For a lot of ladies, these digital areas compensate for the invisibility and lack of company lots of them typically expertise in skilled contexts.
On-line platforms assist ladies steadiness their home and household obligations whereas enabling them to grow to be financially unbiased. All-female platforms are created by merchants to keep away from the involvement and management of males which additionally helps them navigate the principles of gender segregation.
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Many Orthodox Jewish ladies have used social media to construct companies and connections inside their very own communities whereas maintaining in step with expectations round modesty. Girls like Sarah Haskell, who goes by the deal with @thatrelatablejew, create content material that educates individuals about Judaism and likewise combats unfavourable stereotypes about Orthodox Jewish ladies.
Muslim ladies all around the world additionally utilized the advertising and marketing potential of social media to create a modest vogue business by reclaiming of the hijab. Many reappropriate symbols or phrases with unfavourable connotations in direction of Islam equivalent to “Muslim extremist” to promote t-shirts with the phrases “excessive Muslim” as a type of optimism-driven commodification.
They assert their identification whereas combating unfavourable stereotypes about Islam and Muslim ladies. Entrepreneurial networks additionally operate as a type of empowerment to beat points confronted by them attributable to Islamophobia.
Bohra entrepreneurship
Dawoodi Bohras are a non secular neighborhood identified for his or her buying and selling actions and entrepreneurial spirit. The neighborhood numbers round a million, dwelling primarily in India with smaller diasporas around the globe.
For Bohra ladies, work is a supply of earnings in addition to a part of their faith and a approach to give their lives which means. This concept relies on historic examples of girls such because the Prophet Muhammad’s spouse Khadija who was identified to be a tradeswoman in addition to rules of equality that think about each women and men working collectively to make sure happiness and prosperity.
Indian Dawoodi Bohra ladies stroll alongside a road in Mumbai, India.
(AP Photograph/Rafiq Maqbool)
Historically, Bohra ladies would both market their merchandise from residence or function bodily shops. Nonetheless, the rise of digital entrepreneurship permits them to develop on-line. Their ventures vary from designing and promoting the neighborhood’s distinctive non secular clothes to accompanying equipment equivalent to skullcaps, prayer mats, baggage, jewellery in addition to different objects like meals, toys, décor and non secular instructing aids.
Some ladies promote solely on-line or as an extension of their bodily companies. They’ve their very own web sites or use totally different social media platforms and kind on-line teams the place ladies can work together, promote their merchandise and obtain steerage and mentoring.
Assist from neighborhood establishments is what differentiates Bohra ladies’s entrepreneurial actions on social media. On account of its entrepreneurial outlook and keen embrace of digital media, the neighborhood supplies ladies with monetary support, on-line coaching and workshops and digital bazaars which assist them succeed.
Throughout COVID-19 pandemic closures the neighborhood’s official enterprise division, Al-Tijaarat Al-Raabehah, helped many entrepreneurs transfer to digital advertising and marketing.
The Dawoodi Bohra mannequin reveals how neighborhood help of digital entrepreneurship may also help ladies obtain monetary independence and success whereas respecting non secular norms and beliefs.
Though these are small ventures by way of demand and attain, social media platforms have helped Bohra ladies develop their realms of chance and create sturdy networks throughout the globe.
Arwa Hussain receives funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec
