History of the American Working Woman
HIS310: American women’s history | EVER CHANGING WORKING WOMAN | Sphere of Life | | Jonathan C. Pape | 4/26/2011 |
[This essay details the history of working women in American history. From colonial times through today 's business woman. Goes over the challenges and breakthroughs in roughly each era with references.] |
It was not long ago when women were looked upon as slaves to the hard- working man. In today 's society women now are more respected and are acceptable for many jobs equivalent to men. Yet, long before our time during the creation of this great nation, women were second class citizens, thought to only hold reign over a household not a workplace. During World War II, women were given an opportunity to prove their worth out of necessity for workers, then expected to return to the household chores and structure, this taste of freedom sparked their own revolution of equality in this ever changing new nation of America. Women then took their stand and many acts were passed in their favor. In this essay I shall be discussing the many different requirements women went through from colonial times, during World War II and through to today.
The ships that brought over the very first settlers of Jamestown and Plymouth also brought a surplus of social ideology. Women’s place was submissive and obedient. “Tradition provided her with secondary status in the family, where she served her husband, cared for her children, and worked in the household.” (Woloch, p. 16)
The seventeenth-century housewife, in her confined living space, was expected to commit to “housewifery” as the only job she was capable of in her daily life. This meant the lifelong production of food, clothing, and household items; the newer the region, the more rugged the job. It was shocking for Mary Rowlandson, while in captivity, to witness Native American women in charge of the business of trading as well as farming and housing demands.
For most of the
[This essay details the history of working women in American history. From colonial times through today 's business woman. Goes over the challenges and breakthroughs in roughly each era with references.] |
It was not long ago when women were looked upon as slaves to the hard- working man. In today 's society women now are more respected and are acceptable for many jobs equivalent to men. Yet, long before our time during the creation of this great nation, women were second class citizens, thought to only hold reign over a household not a workplace. During World War II, women were given an opportunity to prove their worth out of necessity for workers, then expected to return to the household chores and structure, this taste of freedom sparked their own revolution of equality in this ever changing new nation of America. Women then took their stand and many acts were passed in their favor. In this essay I shall be discussing the many different requirements women went through from colonial times, during World War II and through to today.
The ships that brought over the very first settlers of Jamestown and Plymouth also brought a surplus of social ideology. Women’s place was submissive and obedient. “Tradition provided her with secondary status in the family, where she served her husband, cared for her children, and worked in the household.” (Woloch, p. 16)
The seventeenth-century housewife, in her confined living space, was expected to commit to “housewifery” as the only job she was capable of in her daily life. This meant the lifelong production of food, clothing, and household items; the newer the region, the more rugged the job. It was shocking for Mary Rowlandson, while in captivity, to witness Native American women in charge of the business of trading as well as farming and housing demands.
For most of the
References: Woloch, N. (2011). Women and the American Experience (5 ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. "An Operative" (1845). "Some of the Beauties of our Factory System – Otherwise, Lowell Slavery". In Factory Tracts. Factory Life As It Is, Number One. Lowell. Online at the Center for History and New Media. Retrieved on August 27, 2007. Thistle, Susan. From Marriage to the Market : The Transformation of Women 's Lives and Work .Ewing, NJ, USA: University of California Press, 2006.p5.http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/Doc?id=10129012&ppg=20 Baker, Carrie N. “Race, Class, and Sexual Harassment in the 1970s.” Feminist Studies, Spring 2004, Vol. 30 Issue 1; EBSCOhost: Ashford Univ. Library Cook, Bernard A. Women and war: a historical encyclopedia from antiquity to the present (2006) D 'Ann Campbell. "Women in Uniform: The World War II Experiment," Military Affairs, Vol. 51, No. 3, Fiftieth Year—1937-1987 (Jul., 1987) Maurine W. Greenwald. Women, War, and Work: The Impact of World War I on Women Workers in the United States (1990)