The Indebted Women: Microcredit and the Credit Card

Abstract

Two online searches for women’s images reveal the contrast between those of ‘women in poverty’ and ‘shopaholic’. Images of ‘women in poverty’ are mostly ‘third-world’ women in Africa and South Asia. The earth tone of the dirt, the dusty air, and the brown faces all contribute to the meaning of female poverty. The images usually show the ‘women in poverty’ standing on a dirt road in a rural village or surviving in an urban slum littered with industrial waste. The women are likely to appear ‘non-Western’ by having their heads wrapped or wearing saris. They are regularly photographed with malnourished and shabbily clothed children who do not seem to go to school. The women’s wrinkled faces document human misery and perpetual suffering. To the camera, they can only force out a blank stare. A casual search for ‘shopaholics’ yields starkly different images. The shopaholics are overwhelmingly white women who are carefully groomed, impeccably dressed up and carrying too many shopping bags. Their dwellings are high streets and indoor shopping malls. They often have a dazzled facial expression such as widened eyes and a wide grin. The images are bright and colourful: her clothing and shopping bags all scream for attention from the viewers. The contrast reflects that the Poor Women are mostly seen as a third-world phenomenon while shopaholism is an exclusively first-world problem. The differences between the discourses are unsurprising because they were produced for different audiences and circulated in different markets. Popular culture discourses about the Shopaholic appeal to a mainstream audience— some of whom may self-identify as shopaholics. In contrast, academic/public discourses about the Poor Women are produced for scholars, policy makers, and a niche public (such as concerned global citizens and academics). Because