Women at Work
One of the most significant sociological changes in the nation 's history began in the last decade of the nineteenth century and the ramifications are still being felt today. This change consisted of the large numbers of women who entered the work force. This dramatic change in American society was accompanied by a great deal of controversy and prejudice directed towards women. It was predicted that female employment would bring about the downfall of society and the change of the American family.
While a large portion of the public was appalled by the thought of independent young working women, they were also fascinated. Therefore, the attitudes of the public toward these women can be seen in the literature that was produced at that time. The works of Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser immediately come to mind as dramatizations of the life of women of this period.
Slowly, attitudes began to change. The employment opportunities for women enlarged and women began to slowly gain their rights as full citizens, finally receiving the right to vote in 1920. The attitudes of the women in the work force also changed as time progressed. At first, they struggled for even the opportunity to work. As the century progressed, they became more active in union activities and, as newspapers from the period demonstrate, they fought to achieve better working conditions and better wages.
By 1900, many poor and working-class young women, mostly of Northern white extraction, were leaving the confines and moral structures of their families and elders and venturing forth to the large industrial cities such as New York (Lunbeck 781). There they became enthusiastic participants of the new pleasures that were offered to consumers in the brand-new century. Essentially, these young women added a stage to the female life cycle that had not previously existed ñadolescence (Lunbeck 781).
In the 1890s, female factory workers were seen as a serious economic and social threat.
While a large portion of the public was appalled by the thought of independent young working women, they were also fascinated. Therefore, the attitudes of the public toward these women can be seen in the literature that was produced at that time. The works of Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser immediately come to mind as dramatizations of the life of women of this period.
Slowly, attitudes began to change. The employment opportunities for women enlarged and women began to slowly gain their rights as full citizens, finally receiving the right to vote in 1920. The attitudes of the women in the work force also changed as time progressed. At first, they struggled for even the opportunity to work. As the century progressed, they became more active in union activities and, as newspapers from the period demonstrate, they fought to achieve better working conditions and better wages.
By 1900, many poor and working-class young women, mostly of Northern white extraction, were leaving the confines and moral structures of their families and elders and venturing forth to the large industrial cities such as New York (Lunbeck 781). There they became enthusiastic participants of the new pleasures that were offered to consumers in the brand-new century. Essentially, these young women added a stage to the female life cycle that had not previously existed ñadolescence (Lunbeck 781).
In the 1890s, female factory workers were seen as a serious economic and social threat.
Cited: (Westport Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1970). Anonymous ," The New York Times (1913): 2 January, p Anonymous. "100,000 more to strike," The New York Times (1913): 8 January, p. 6. Anonymous Anonymous. "Women in their clubs," The New York Times (1900): 16 April, p. 7. Anonymous, "Protocol Adopted in Garment Strike," The New York Times (1913): (1913): 12 January, p. 7. Connell, Eileen The New York City Working Girls ' Clubs," Women 's Studies, v26 n6 (1997): November, pp Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1970). Fennell, Dorothy E Politics in the United States, 1900-1965," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, v49 n4 (1996): July, pp Keep, Christopher. "The cultural work of the Type-Writer Girl," Victorian Studies, V40 n3 (1997): Spring, pp Kessler-Harris, Alice. Out to work: a history of wage-earning women in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982) Lunbeck, Elizabeth. "The 'girl problem ' : female sexual delinquency in New York, 1900-1930," Journal of Social History, v30 (1997): March, pp