Direct selling has a long history. The things most people think about when they think about the direct selling of the past are Tupperware parties and MaryKay sales women and while it is obvious that for many direct selling opportunities women have dominated the market because it allowed a way for women to work their own hours and at home with the kids. It also gave them an excuse for social events such as having Tupperware parties or other social events of the same nature that asked friends and family to come over, have fun and experience a product that could change their homes. However, overall women did not dominate the direct selling market for a long time and these two companies were not the only ones that were out there selling door to door.

Southwestern Company is a good example of a direct seller who has been in business for a long time. It was only recently that they started hiring women. This was less because of prejudiced and more because of cultural norms. Southwestern Company asks the sellers to travel away from home for long periods of time, live in a new area for a summer or longer and sell door to door. These sales aren’t as fun either. While there are probably a few people who have tried to have book parties, it is not a very common practice and would be harder to turn into a social gathering in which it doesn’t feel like the product is the main point of the show rather than socializing being the main point. This has a turn off effect when it comes to buying because then people feel like they are being sold to. For these reasons it has not been a company that many women have wanted to work at until recently.

Now days there are a number of men and women working in the direct selling field across the board. Many of these people become very rich from their sales, while others find that they can live on what they make and don’t have to work as many hours. For many people that makes this work very much worth it.

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