The Pros And Cons Of Women

Due to the demand of labor occurring in America, industries were at a deficit in workers. This led for young women to be hired to fill the gaps of labor of the deficit. This change went against society’s perception of a woman’s role. Before industries allowed women

Before the Great Depression, there were limited job opportunities for women in the United States. Women were expected to get married and when they did, to give up their jobs if they had them and to conform to the social norms of the proper domestic American wife. Husbands were the head of the household and thus the breadwinners. Originally when the New Deal departments were created the government reinforced these gender stereotypes (Ware 1987). If a woman was married, she was barred from participating in the New Deal, even if she was dealing with a husband who could not or would not work. The preconceived notion was that women did not need to work if they had a husband, an idea which was shown to be

In the 1900s women were not primarily seen in the work force. Women were at home cooking fresh meals mostly from the garden they grew themselves. They cleaned the house, and took care of the offspring. Women accommodated to their men. The men were the main source of income. The women typically didn’t see the money nor spend it. If the women were single they happened to work but it was little pesky job such as a waitress. In 1930s even during the great depression women were discouraged getting jobs. Until later on during the 1960s that’s when women started to stand up for their rights. This is when they passed a bill stating “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bans discrimination in employment on the basis of race and sex. At the same time the Act establishes the Equal Employment

In general terms, women were considered weaker than men and not able to carry out any type of work that needed strength or intelligence. In the 1930’s only 24,3% of women were employed and most of them worked in domestic, personal service, as schoolteachers or as nurses. In the 1940’s 25% of women worked in domestic, clerical and factory posts or as service workers, teachers and nurses.

Before World War II, women were expected to get married, raise kids, do housework, and obey their husbands. This all changed when World War II came around. The men were busy at war, so someone had to take over their jobs. The government considered having children across the country fill in, but society chose the women to do it instead. The government depicted work only as a necessity, only temporarily, not as a way to change a women’s rights or freedom.

Women had the stereotype of being the homemaker which is a person whose main job is to take care of her family, home and children. Women were assumed to be homemakers with the primary responsibility for the children (Blair and Lenton 1). Traditionally, the job of a stay at home mother is done by women who have had to make them self’s approachable for marriage, stay at home, take care of the kids, cook and clean. Society benefited economically from high marriage rates because that led to an increase in production of family related goods, home construction, and furnishings. It was frown upon if women did not get married young, and a virgin. Women needed to get married in order to have unprotected intercourse because premarital sex was considered sinful. In the 1950s professional jobs were still largely closed off to women even after they had taken over the workforce when men left for World War II. It was common for companies not to want to hire women, and if they did provide employment for them they would pay them less than men. During that time there were too few women American lawyers, doctors, and engineers. Working women did not have a great salary, and were denied opportunities to advance. Their employers assumed they would quit their jobs as soon as they knew that had become pregnant. If women did work, they were stewardesses, secretaries, nurses and teachers. In addition, many women faced pressure from their families to stay home, and not work at all outside the home. In the 1950's, society encouraged, and pressured women to marry young because of the well-defined roles of that time. Women’s jobs were to serve as a homemaker and mother, so it was not deemed necessary for them to pursue a college degree. Most women were married after high school, and fell into their traditional gender roles right away. As stated in the American Journal of Sociology, “Women were

Women only worked in their homes caring for their family’s, they never had the opportunity to work outside of their homes in places such as factories or in the government and they had no benefits within the house until the war began. The war

Women’s history in the United States has always been represented as a struggle for rights. Wealth and status were tied to either their fathers or husbands. In the early 1900s, women were afforded the traditional roles of society. The majority of women worked in the home. If they were of the 18% young or poor women, they also worked in factories as laborers, manufacturing items for the booming industrial revolution (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). During this time period the workplace was not in compliance with current safety standards. There was no minimum wage yet, work conditions were horrible and they worked long hours, “In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was 53 hours,” (Fisk, 2003). Women took “pink

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.

As you know many things have changed since the 1960s and 1970s. For instance, women’s rights. Women rights have come a long way in education, work, family life, politics, and sports. But I am writing to remind you the importance in women’s work force. Women have always in a general manner…been under appreciated. It seemed however that sometimes needs made men realize or potential. You see during world war 2, nearly all women worked…this was directly related to the fact that men where away at war. Women worked both hard labor, and intelligent jobs. After they returned; women gave up their jobs and let men take over. Most women enjoyed the thought of a house life, but I don’t think most knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. Women

After the death of woman works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company became public knowledge, women were working towards receiving proper wages and expanding their employment options. By the 1920 around 25 precent of employed woman were office workers or telephone operators, 8 million woman working for wages, and one-quarter were married woman. The female work force no longer just consisted of young, single white woman. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman book Woman and Economics offered woman “evidence of a ‘spirit if personal independence’ that pointed to a coming transformation of both economic and family life. ”(Give

With the rise of the modern age economic survival has become difficult for families based on a single income. This economic need along with modern attitudes toward gender equality has resulted in women being represented in the workforce in greater numbers. However, until the 1960’s women faced severe discrimination when trying to enter and maintain a position in the workforce. Often qualified women would be passed over for men with less experience and education. Employers were fearful that women were too emotional and were not equipped to handle the stress of the work environment. Also driving the decision to not hire or promote women was the concern over the additional health care expenses and leave time pregnant

In 1920, women won the right to vote and they were gradually moving into the male-dominated labor force, but gender roles were not changing much. Due to the World War II draft, many women entered the labor force and even helped run the country. Upon the return of the veterans, many women were forced back into their homes. However, the opportunities for women were broadening and some women began making careers for themselves outside of the home. The 1960’s saw many feminist movements and in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress which enticed more women to get out of the house and into better careers.

Between 1900 and 1920, women started taking jobs outside the home. It started with teaching, nursing, and social work but soon women began taking clerical jobs if they were native born white women with an education. Thus leading to “Rosie the Riveter”, which we will discuss later. “American Feminists, in the early 20th century included a segment of working-class women, participating alongside better-known middle-class and elite adherents of feminist ideas”, (Greenwald, 1989).

In 1870, nearly two million women and girls worked outside the home. Domestic work was an important source of income. Some girls even dropped out of school to help make money. One in fifteen American homes employed live-in servants that were mostly immigrants or African American. Working from dawn to dusk, these women cooked, cleaned, washed, ironed, and cared for children. A lot of them supported their own families who lived elsewhere. Most of the women that were working were single because then they did not think that married life and careers for women mixed. Many of the single women workers were between the ages of 16 and 24. Employers thought that they would leave when they got married so they rarely gave them supervisory jobs or advanced training. They also paid women an average of $3 to $5 a week, 30 to 60 percent less than men. Self-supporting women were discouraged from entering the fields that would put them in competition with men. There were many educated young women that wanted or needed work became nurses or teachers where they wouldn?t be competing with men.