Immigrant Woman Analysis

In the 1880’s immigration began to increase, over running the original Ellis Island by the 90’s. 4 million people settle into New York City, less than 1 in 50 people were turned away. Many of these newcomers where women, who would face different issues than the men arrive off of the massive ships. Many different things would be expected of them, such as; working to support families, raising children, keeping the home clean and presentable, shopping, and cooking- to name a few. Some of the biggest, most universal, issues for immigrant woman were; the want to assimilate, the lack of independence,

Even though it was easy for women to obtain jobs in the field of domestic work or laundresses, they faced heavier exploitation; considering, that with these jobs women often had no time to care for their families. Leading a life in extreme poverty, these women had no choice, but to search for other opportunities to keep their families, and themselves, alive. At some point African American women even had to sacrifice their prides, in order to earn breadline wages to survive.

Between the years of 1840 and 1914, about forty million people immigrated to the United States from foreign countries. Many of them came to find work and earn money to have a better life for their families. Others immigrated because they wanted to escape the corrupt political power of their homelands, such as the revolution in Mexico after 1911. Whatever the case, many found it difficult to begin again in a new country. Most immigrants lived in slums with very poor living conditions. They had a hard time finding work that paid enough to support a family. Not only was it difficult for immigrant men, but for women as well. Immigrant women faced many challenges including lack of education and social life as well as low wages and poor

This article shows the way Central American immigrant women living in Tapachula in order to examine the gap between written policy and its execution. Often those women have to seek for services and important documents for themselves and their family. Immigrant women are blocked, delayed, and discouraged from accessing their rights to legal identity, healthcare, and regularization of their immigration status and other services, not because of restrictive laws, but as a result of negative and confusing institutional interactions with low to middle level officials. The author argues that, low to middle level officials action reveals the importance of a form of over official, subtle through which immigrant women are denied rights they are entitled

Given the difference in culture from immigrant women how are their issues and problems connected? What idea do these women all share after dealing with the stress and hardships from immigration? Explain why others might be more successful in chasing the “American dream” while others endure prosperity handicaps due to communication?

The specific topics I will be talking about is the unfairness of life of an Immigrant family in the United stated of America. While also providing my own life and struggles of income for the family and first generation children, in this case me. Also the struggle of simultstaly going to college and working will be thoroughly discussed. As a result, so will the health effects of both those tools and how they go hand to hand.

For example, almost all telephone operators in the U.S. were women and by 1920 office workers and telephone operators made up to 25% of the female workforce, while domestic servants were only 15%. A union leader named Abraham Bisno remarked that working gave immigrant women a sense of independence, “‘They acquired the right to personality’ something alien to the highly patriarchal family structures of the old country”. (Foner, 2010) Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in the book Women in Economics, wrote, “The spirit of personal independence in the women of today is sure proof that a change has come… the radical change in the economic position of women is advancing upon us… the growing individualization of democratic life bring inevitable changes to our daughters as well as to our sons… one of its most noticeable features is the demand in women not only for their own money, but for their own work for the sake of personal expression. Few girls fail to manifest some signs of the desire for individual expression…”.

Although immigrant women play a big role in America’s society and economy, they have been constantly mistreated and looked down upon throughout history. Not only do they face the burden of the stratifications that their gender entails but they also struggle to adopt the American culture and norms. America was viewed as the land of opportunities and economic prosperity, a perspective that draws in many immigrant women who were willing to leave their families and possessions to come to this foreign country in hopes of a better life. In America, they faced many challenges as they not only had to work long hours but also took care of their families and do housework as well. They struggled to make a standard living out of low wage jobs and assimilating into America’s society. Today, the treatment of immigrant women has improved greatly as they have stood together and fought for their rights. Immigrant women have built communities and held strikes for better pay and treatment. Although America has made great strides in improving treatment of immigrant women, there is still social injustice. Immigrant women have come a long way from the first time they entered America until now, but their stories are often left untold and omitted from American history.

“Most mothers agree that potential marriage partners must earn significantly more than the minimum wage, but also emphasize the importance of stability of employment, source of earnings, and the effort men expend to find and keep their jobs”. I found it really interesting that many of these mothers place equal or greater emphasis on non-monetary factors and ways in which marriage might enhance status, and may limit their control over household decision.

The resilience of women and the hardship of men were prominent during this time. However, women were still deeply grounded in their home life (Bolin, 74). Particularly women from middle-income families were left with job of being able to balance work and home life (Bolin, 74). Being a caregiver and taking care of the domestic needs of the home was very important. During this time tradition values were deeply routed in the home. Women made sure not let their home life consume them because their may focus was being a good wife and mother. This is a trend that has made its way even in today’s society. “Even now lack of adequate day-care (necessitating private baby-sitting service), low paying jobs for women, and the growth of technologies that open the door to and “electronic cottage industry”, indicate that women’s home production is a mutable but perhaps permanent response to women’s economic and social inequality under capitalism” (Hollingsworth, & Tyyska). The oppression in the past is shown to have made and imprint on society even to this day. Even though

After the Civil War and Reconstruction, America began its path towards industrialization. This was a time where many had no choice but to enter factory jobs, work extremely long hours with little pay, and work in very unsafe environments. According to Sugrue and Gilmore in 1910 alone, at least 35,000 employees were killed on the job. Men were not the only ones who had to endure this work. Many immigrant women and children also found jobs in various factories. If the women working in these factories were to make a mistake in their job they could potentially lose their whole wage for the day. Immigrant children with no record of age could be put into the workforce as well, working extreme amounts just to help their family income. These children

Every person in the world has struggles, but some have more than others. Some people work for multiple hours for very little pay. Immigrant factory workers rarely get the chance to enjoy the better qualities in life. In the poem, “My Mother, Who Came from China Where She Never Saw Snow”, Laureen Mar tells about an Immigrant mother from china works in a factory for very little pay. She had worked for twenty-five years and never gotten a raise. In the poem Laureen Mar uses imagery, irony, and punctuation to demonstrate the harshness that immigrant factory workers are put through.

In the world of migrant workers in 1930s America, the main roles of women was to help and serve men, and were mostly regarded as either domestic housewives, or highly sexualized objects to be used and discarded. Women were traditionally and commonly thought of as the homemakers that took care of the home and children in this time.

In Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that “women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status” (Kolker, 71) compared to couples who have arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is great for individuals who are ready to settle down and start their own life without wasting any time finding a partner. Arranged marriage saves a great amount of time on dating people who are not compatible with your personality or beliefs. As Kolker states, assistive marriage does not just save time in finding a lifelong partner but, it also leads to exceptional happiness between the couple than a traditional marriage reported by couples during studies. Traditions brought by immigrants such as, assistive marriage should be considered by American traditions.

Despite all international agreements or recommendations, every day in the United States the abuses against immigrants such as arbitrary detentions, no due process, expedited removal, separation of families, and inhumane working conditions are increasing under the justification of “national security”.