Yes, everything you have articulated and summarized so succinctly is true and necessary, and we have to do more than that. Similar to how sustainability-focused funds look at the impact of the companies they invest in on the planet, investing with a gender lens also requires us to look at the impact of the companies on women. Serving women as customers is one aspect, but is the product helpful to women? Does the companies’ marketing perpetuate harmful stereotypes or encourage attitudes that are harmful to women? Or does it do the opposite, providing women a valuable tool to shift something in their lives for the better? How does the company involve women in its supply chain? Is that relationship exploitative of women’s weaker social status or empowering? These are some of the many questions we must train ourselves to ask as we apply a gender lens to our investments.
COMMENTS
BY Lisa Kuhn
ON September 17, 2021 11:25 PM
Yes, everything you have articulated and summarized so succinctly is true and necessary, and we have to do more than that. Similar to how sustainability-focused funds look at the impact of the companies they invest in on the planet, investing with a gender lens also requires us to look at the impact of the companies on women. Serving women as customers is one aspect, but is the product helpful to women? Does the companies’ marketing perpetuate harmful stereotypes or encourage attitudes that are harmful to women? Or does it do the opposite, providing women a valuable tool to shift something in their lives for the better? How does the company involve women in its supply chain? Is that relationship exploitative of women’s weaker social status or empowering? These are some of the many questions we must train ourselves to ask as we apply a gender lens to our investments.