Patricia Tsurumi's Factory Women

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 concept of women’s labor has changed throughout Japan’s history, and includes examples of both keeping women in the home and using young girls in dangerous factories. These occurred in the Tokugawa era and the period of War Mobilization respectively and were indicative of the rapidly shifting political and social movements which engulfed Japan as it grew from an insular nation to a modernized world power. Even the concept of productivity was changed and became more related to industrial production and a monetary system which dominated the Taisho period compared to the agrarian system used in the Tokugawa era. The common thread that can be woven through all this change is how the status and influence of women changed. Beginning in the Meiji

The girls made more contributions to the family by working in a factory. This further also emphasizes the majority of the factory workers during this time were girls. However, working in a factory isn’t very peasant. In document 3, two Japanese women recalls their experience working in a factory. The two women’s personal experience led them to emphasize the poor working conditions that they went through.

In Document A, the majority of the 10,000 workers were young, unmarried women from farm families. The women took on a significant role in the mills; tending the spinning machine and producing cotton textiles. The owners of the mills offered housing and education to increase the interest for women to work. In document C, Sally Rice, a young woman from Vermont, went to look for her own job away from the farm her family owned. She found work as a domestic servant in New York, and then found another job weaving in a cotton mill in Blackstone Valley. She wished to earn her own money and become more independent. In her letters to her family, she describes how great her work is. She said, “I have one of the best homes and good society which is a good deal better than I can have there [at home].” In both of these examples the women became more independent, accepted more responsibility, and untimely became

Women who were working in factories were severely impacted socially and economically during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Young women were found to dominate the silk and textile factories, however, they did not receive the same pay as men. The chart referencing gender and age of silk factory workers in five English Towns in 1833 reveals that 63 to 96% of the workers were female, which of those were 35 to 53% under the age of 16. (Document A). The chart referencing gender and age of silk factories in Nagano, Japan in 1901 show that 12,519 females worked in 205 mills, which was 92% of the population. The ages of the female workers reveal that 18% were 14 and under, 48% were 15 to 20 years old, and 34% were over the age of 20 (Document B). The

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

Beginning her speech, Kelley applies her credibility by placing statistics regarding the controversy of child labor laws, revealing that she is informed about this topic. Her credibility has a great connection to her purpose, she claims that the number of working girls doubled from census to census and girls from twelve to twenty years are working when they should not have to. Kelley then manifests her concern over these working girls by explaining that, “tonight,” while everybody else is snoozing away in bed, “these several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills,”(16-17). These words make her audience feel pity concerning those young girls and are a great reason to act against the unfair laws and regulations that violate both their human and women's rights, especially when they aren’t even getting paid fairly. By appealing to their emotion Florence Kelley wishes to push the women to act on her proposal of joining together and helping the poor young girls of their nation. Kelley continues to approach and influence the women’s sentiments and- hopefully- their actions by including her scandalized argument that in “Georgia there is no restriction whatever! A girl of six or seven years, just tall enough to reach the bobbins, may work eleven hours by day or by night,” (29-31). She decides to include the ‘bobbins’ of sewing machines in factories to illustrate how short and how young they are to be working in dangerous factories where their rights are ignored, girls at that age should worry more about going to school instead of sacrificing themselves to bring money for bread to their homes. One would understand that many families are living through poverty due to the economy being at a very depressing state and they need the most they can do to increase their financial position to survive in their society, then again, girls should be

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.

A chart illustrating the Occupations of Women Wage Earners in Massachusetts in 1837 shows that nearly half of the women wage earners were in the hat business. While the hat business isn’t one of high skill, it was new for women to be wage earners at all. The emergence of factories (such as Lowell) created a new demand for workers that men alone couldn’t fulfill. A Letter written by a factory worker around the same time as the chart tells Ms. Edward’s story about her job. She is very happy with her life and tells the recipient of the letter that she enjoys boarding with a family, regardless of how “factory girls” are seen by the public.

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.

However, not only did women work in the fields they also produce goods, and services; such as clothing, personal hygiene items, and food to be sold in order to build -up their coffer’s through that of their overabundance of supplies. This impact took place during the 1700’s and beyond, when women from all aspects of life filled these domestic jobs while working for very little pay; getting absolutely nothing at all for their work. During the 1800’s, however, this all changed for women and soon these women we’re categorized as being unskilled workers this causing tremendous consequences for these women; especially when the men return for war and once again took on the gender roles to which women were now a custom too.

The second half of the comic is a conversation among two boys who discuss the changes happening in Japan based on what they see as well as what they hear from their father. Their discussion draws on the arguments made by Cinzia Arruzza and Anna McClintock, followed by the lecture in class on the Meiji Restoration. Arruzza unitary thesis argues against the idea of patriarchy under a capitalistic system, and that people’s differences are what capitalism feeds on.4 This indicated that most women were exploited, in that they were expected to produce children who would become soldiers or workers and contribute to the nation. McClintock addresses the many ways women were involved in nationalism, mainly as reproducers and participants of national struggles. 5 What McClintock argues is that nationality is passed through the maternity line, and women become designated as multipliers for the

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

Woman along with the children were affected while working during the industrial revolution. During 1834 and 1836 Harriet Martineau, a British feminist and abolitionist, visited America and enthusiastically embraced the social implications of the Industrial Revolution, (DTA, 223). Martineau compared the lifestyle of women to slaves and said the United States contradicted the principles of the Declaration of Independence. She did believe though with some progress that it could become New England’s new industrial order. One of the Mill factories Martineau visited, Waltham Mill, was a prime example of the scheduled lifestyle of women mill workers. Women Mill workers of all ages worked at Waltham Mill, which I compared to a boarding school because of their strict schedules. The ladies had a time to wake up, to be at work, to eat, and to go to school. A lot of women did not mind the harsh conditions they lived and worked in because they fought for their equality of rights for a long time now.

Mr. Sugiyama is a Japanese businessman in a large city, which is a common profession in Japan, and his wife is a stay-at-home mother. Women who decide to stay home in Japan are more