SALES LADIES

Bangladeshi Women Leave Home to Sell Cosmetics

A male-dominated society breaks from tradition.

In Bangladesh, where women are expected to stay home and tend to their families and households while their husbands go out and work, many are instead starting to make their own money selling beauty-care products. Some 2,400 Bangladeshi women have been trained by Care International—a global confederation to end poverty—to sell products for several multinational corporations. For most women, the work has more than doubled their incomes—an especially significant difference for those who are widowed. And while working women are traditionally frowned upon in Bangladeshi society, the extra money brought home by a working wife is so helpful to a family that it may outweigh any qualms her husband has about her going door-to-door.