Patricia Tsurumi's Factory Women

As many people know, the Second World War changed the role of Japanese women. Before the war they used to be stay home mothers, and they had duties such as, keeping the house clean, and taking care of their husband and children. During the world war II, women changed their roles. Because a significant amount of man went to war, many women had to take their jobs in order to keep production in the country. Women started taking jobs like arms factories and coalmines. (1) In addition, new opportunities arise at that time for women because they could even join the army. After the World War II, women keep their freedom when it comes to having the right to choose whether they were going to work or be an stay home mother. Moreover, they also gain more

As industrialization spread in Western Europe, the production of products and goods moved from the household to factories which drastically changed family life. Married women were unable to work unless they left their children and home in someone else’s care. Moreover, middle-class women generally did not leave their homes in order to work. In contrast, the women of Eastern Asia rapidly joined the work force after the introduction of industrialization and made up a gigantic portion of the labor force. This difference is probably due to the fact that the rural women of Eastern Asia were always laborers, and they make up the majority of the female population. Additionally, European women generally preferred domestic labor to laborious tasks. Rural women were offered independence by leaving their homes in order to perform domestic work; they generally sent their earnings to their families or saved it for themselves. Moreover, the European women that participated in the work force were forced to travel long distances and were separated from their families from long hours. Additionally, their wages were significantly lower than that of their male counterparts. Furthermore, women worked under poor conditions and were constantly susceptible to disease. Similarly, the poor women of Eastern Asia sought employment in the cotton and silk industry.

In document 3, two women in Japan talk about their lives working in the factories. Both women worked from morning when it was still dark, to ten at night where they hardly had the strength to stand (document 3). In their first year of working neither woman was paid but, when they were paid it was very little. There were many sick people at the factory who had tuberculosis, which the woman’s sister contracted, died from (document 3). The factory girls in the rural areas of Japan were very useful to farmers because they were paid more than the entire income of a farmer’s (document 4). This is where all of the cheap workers came from in Japan. Farming communities had just enough to buy the necessities for the parents and siblings so that is why factory workers pay is so little; they only need to care for themselves (document 5). In India most factory workers come from peasants, agricultural laborers of the villages, and unemployed hand weavers. They work less than two years in the factory and their wages are low (document 9). The textile industry in India is increasing because of native bankers and investors who invest large capitol (document 6). The majority of Japan’s workers come from farming communities while India's workers come from agricultural laborers and unemployed hand weavers but, all of the workers are poorly paid. India has less human workers because of the bankers and investors investing their money to get more machines to do the

The experiences of female mill workers in Japan had different experiences from female mill workers in England. The industrial revolution happened in England around the 1800’s while in Japan, the industrial revolution happened around the 1900’s. There are multiple examples of difference between the different female mill workers. These can be categorized into four different groupings. These groups are Background, Salary/Wage, Gender/Age, and Working Conditions. The groups Salary/Wage, Gender/Age, and Working Conditions all show their differences. While the group of Background shows the resemblance of the two groups.

The Meiji Restoration was a time of trouble for Japan. Battles were fought and lives were lost. During this stage, women aided by caring for warriors. In accordance with Yamakawa Misako’s account, the women’s duties were to “cooked rations, made bullets, and tended to the wounded” (2721). They were discouraged to fight, however. Women in battle looked bad on the country (2708). Nevertheless, in a time of incredible need, the Aizu

It is no secret that for centuries, the Japanese woman has been, to most observers, a model of elegance and graceful beauty. A picture of a kimono-clad, modest, and often silent woman has been plastered everywhere, allowing for the upmost passive subjection. If we look deeper into this image of woman, can we tell if this picture is complete? How do these women painted in representative images far in the modern world? The ideal woman in Japan is expected to be both a good wife, and a wise mother. Though these seem like reasonable expectations, there is a much deeper meaning to them that has shown signs of being outdated. During the 1800’s and 1900’s, women were subjected to society’s vision of them, and could not break free for fear of the

Women working men’s jobs were not as welcomed in society as they were in factories. People held on to the belief that women should be house wives and not have to do much in the way of work. The man should provide for the family, and the women should take care of the family. Many of the women who worked were lower class and had to help provide for their families, or were the only providers for their families. Women who worked men’s jobs were looked down upon and thought to be no better than dirt. Although women working in factories were still women, men did not show them the same respect as they did a woman working as a secretary or teacher.

During the early period of the early 19th century, women came to the mills of their own accord, for various reasons: to help a brother pay for college, for the educational opportunities offered in Lowell, or to earn a supplementary income for themselves. While their wages were only half of what men were paid, they became free from the controlling dozens of fathers and husbands which at first seemed to be a positive experience. As a result, while factory life would soon come to be experienced as oppressive, it enabled these women to challenge assumptions of female inferiority. The young working girls endured hard work hours, low wages, and spoor living conditions. For example, their working conditions of long hours on average of at least twelve to thirteen hours per day were rigid conditions for these young women. The low wages and harsh living conditions can take a psychological toll on the women. As told in her own story, “Amelia”, a working girl who used a pen name described her opinion of factory life. She said “receives therefrom a Regulation paper, containing the rules by which she must be governed while in their employ: and lo! Here is the beginning of mischief: for in addition to the tyrannous and oppressive rules which meet her astonished eyes she finds herself compelled to remain for the space of twelve months…in fact, constituting herself a slave, a

Getting chosen to work in the Lowell Mills was a gift many young girls in the New England States initially aspired to achieve. The Lowell Mills was a group of factories built in the 1820’s for the manufacture of textiles (GilderLehrman.org, 2015). Increasing population numbers in the United States required more goods made from cotton that required milling and weaving into useable products. Expanding on roles women performed during the War of 1812 and wanting additional compensation and recognition for their work, young girls left their families and went to work in one of these mills. Enticing the girls with promises of tolerable working conditions, a formal education, and comfortable living quarters, the owners of the factories were able to recruit the girls at a lesser wage than what was paid to men (Tindall & Shi, 2013). Eventually rapid growth and unfavorable working conditions led others to question whether factory work was the proper work environment for young girls.

In Ihara Saikaku’s story, Life of a Sensuous Woman, and Mary Wollstonecraft’s work, “Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, the issue of double standards in gender are examined. Both pieces offer a perspective into the lives of women during their respective times and show how some standards that are considered favorable for men, are looked down upon for women. In particular, the two works examine how women were treated differently based on their education, their social status and even their sexual history. Saikaku looks at these issues in a different lens from Wollstonecraft, based on his experiences as a man living in Japan in the 17th century. Their experiences shape their works and show how the issue of double standards of gender span culture, time and geography.

Often, the women’s families and children ended up working alongside them in the factories, because of the constant need for cheap labor in the industrial United States of America (Rabinowitz, 2010).

Towards the beginning chapter four, “Cultures of Defeat” (p. 121), Dower portrayed the transformative effects of defeat as Japanese women tried to remake their identity through the world of prostitution. Before the war, traditional Japanese families created a reaction against lust, for it was appropriate for them to embrace an asexual traditional of national loyalty and family piety. However, this mindset changed. Under the Occupation, the world of prostitution became a place of sexual exploitation that allowed for a growth of interracial desire, which deteriorated racial stereotypes. For example, between Japan’s surrender and the arrival of United States forces, the Japanese

For one, since women were seen as the property of men and as dependent beings, working was not something they would usually do. Thus, working in mills was already something different. However, working in the textile mills were tough. They worked in harsh conditions, in which they worked long hours and had low pay. According to Vera Shlackman, “all the learning I now have gained without instruction, having obtained alone and that too I have labored twelve hours a day”(59), this shows how long they worked for in the mills each day, twelve hours a day. This also shows how despite the fact the mills state that “women working in Lowell’s mills, moreover, could avail themselves of certain education services”(Schug et al. 147), they kept the mill girl’s education at a certain level, in which Vera Shlakman had to resort in teaching herself. To add on, the mill girls had low pay. According to Mark C. Schug, Jean Caldwell, and Tawni Hunt, “the weekly wage for young women in Lowell’s mills was $2.50, of which $1.25 was deducted to pay for room and board. This amounted to pay of less than four cents per hour”(147), showing how low their pay was and how little choices they had, to the point they stayed in these mills. This brings us to the second change. According to the text, these working women were starting to lead industrial strikes. “They walked off their jobs in the the textile

Throughout time, the role that Women had in the early twentieth century to the present has changed drastically and it has changed for the better. Japanese American Women residing in the United States, has experienced the evolution of their culture, tradition, values and their role in society. However though it seems as if there is no time in this ever so rapid society, they still continue to pass down culture and tradition through each generation. Some key terms that are crucial in order to understand the essay are, Issei, or the first generation, Nisei, the second generation ,and Sansei, known as the third generation.Over time the Women slowly moved away form being the average Homemaker and transforming into a respected and valued member of society.

"Yamamoto does reveal through her fiction the sorry plight of many female immigrants caught in unhappy marriages. What made the lives of these Issei women especially bleak was that unlike Black women, for example, who in similar situations often turned to one another for support, rural Issei women were not only separated by the Pacific from their mothers and grandmothers, but often cut off from one another as well. Having to take care of children and to work alongside their husbands on isolated farms, they had little time and opportunity to cultivate friendships with other women. The only members of the same sex to whom they could embosom their thoughts were their own daughters, who all too often had