Women's Expectations Of Motherhood In The Twentieth Century

The twentieth century was a difficult time for most people in Canada. Women, in particular, worked extremely hard during the twentieth century to overcome many obstacles. Motherhood in the twentieth century was constantly changing, household duties, childcare responsibilities, and sometimes a job outside the home. Most mothers felt pressured into following the expectations that the community around them had set to be the norm. Attitudes towards mothers of the twentieth century seemed to be in constant turmoil, depending on if mothers were benefiting their children or trying to benefit themselves. Motherhood was a rewarding, but challenging job. Mothers felt the need to preserve and overcome the stereotypical expectations of what motherhood
was meant to be. Women along with other feminists made changes throughout the twentieth century to help shape and better motherhood in the coming years. The so-called normal expectations of mothers in the twentieth century varied from greatly. Such task were caring for their children, upkeep of a house, cooking, cleaning, yard work, managing finances, assisting their husbands, and also making decisions about the household. “Women were a not just considered a female; they were a wife, mother, domestic worker, wage managers and revenue stretchers” ( paper online169 ). Women in the twentieth century had to care for their children all day long while keeping up with the housework and outdoor work; such as gardens. Mothers at this time had the expectation to do it all and not to complain about their motherhood duties. A mother's day, usually began with being the first to awake, so she was able to start cooking breakfast for her husband and children. Next making sure her husband had lunch before he set off to work, along with getting the children ready for their day ( Reading 2 160). Studies show that men did very minimum housework or childcare. Studies also showed that when men did do housework related activities, it was more desirable jobs such as: reading a bedtime story to children or cleaning up the kitchen after supper (Daniels 40). Women handled the upkeep of gardens and also ensured there was enough food for the winter months by putting up preservatives. The expectations in regards to work for women in the twentieth century were never ending. Work in today’s society is defined as a separate part from the rest of one's life.
People have to work so they can support their families, working jobs usually require a certain set of skills and training (403 reading 1). Whereas in the past, women usually did not work outside their home, because it was looked down upon, and some women who worked outside their homes were considered a lower class status. Also, the attitudes of society felt mothers who worked all day at their homes were considered to have done no work at all, even though childcare and home care was not an easy task. A common belief was that men along with children and the community around them did not appreciate the work that their wives or mothers or neighbours did. Women’s attitudes were not positive, they just wanted to feel appreciated. “Feminists have argued that when the housekeeping and childcare of women have been ignored or glossed over with vague allusions to “women's work” the real work involved is not appreciated," this is known as invisible work. Work that does not get appraised for by others ( 405 Daniels). Feminist were trying their hardest to make women and society aware of mothers situations. With the consistent dedication of standing up and spreading the word about mothers situations, multiple feminist groups did help reshape and change attitudes and work situations for mothers in the twentieth
century. The attitudes and expectations toward mothers during the war were unusually different, in such ways that mothers expectations were expanding, and societies attitudes were changing. At this time the women and mothers were putting their best foot forward and doing a lot of jobs that men usually did around the home and in the workforce. Communities around them were starting to appreciate the hard work they took on while the men were away fighting. Women were applauded for their work and dedication to their families and communities to making sure everything ran smoothly. Mothers became the primary breadwinners during the war since their husbands were away. “ By the end of the first war, the foundation for a modern industrial capitalist economy had been laid, the public bureaucracy had changing attitudes towards the employment of women; since the labour shortages during world war one”. One example of an increase in women the workforce was a clerical jobs. In 1901, twenty-two percent of women held clerical jobs. However, there was an increase of sixty-eight percent in 1971 (Lowe 257). Prior to the war, if women held a job, such as factory workers and seamstresses, it usually had no contact with the public. Most women who had these jobs were not mothers at the time, but they helped lead to the necessary changes in attitudes towards mothers for having a paying job outside the home. Mothers had double the responsibility at war times. They usually had a day of their housework and looking after their children, however now they had to work to bring in a solo income since most women’s husbands were gone fighting for freedom. At this time, the expectations and attitudes toward mothers were that they were superheroes. They were the ones making sure all the priority jobs had gotten done because, essentially there was no-one else to carry out these duties. During World War Two the recruitment of women into the working force was primarily done by the National Selective Services, a government funded agency. Most mothers had were recruited for part-time employment because they already had unpaid work to do at home. In some cases if children were old enough, women were able to work most of the day. The women who could work full time helped improve the outlook on women's working situations in the future. National Selective Services were able to help women the child care they would need so they could work. During this time, child care was not frowned upon considering most women did not have other family members who could look after their children. There were wartime childcare and daytime nursery accommodations in Ontario and Quebec (49 reading 6). Day care facilities for children of mothers who were employed in the war industry, women had to fill out applications to receive this wartime childcare (51 reading 6). By managers changing hours and becoming more flexible to mothers, more women were able to work, and by 1943, a staggering 255,000 women were involved in working during the war (26 reading 6). “The war effort brought public acclaim to that everyday labour women performed as housewives and mothers," the war showed people that mothers and women everywhere were hard working people; that would do anything to improve the lives of their families (98 - not sure). It was the traditional labour of women, their unpaid labour in the home and their volunteer labour; that was mobilized on the grandest scale during the war ( Find). This was the start of all women and mothers acceptance into the workforce. The war itself was a negative time for Canada, but it assisted in changing the future of working mothers. “It is often assumed that the employment of women in the labour force during World War Two greatly advanced the emancipation of women, at least in the sense of women’s struggle to achieve equal status with men in Canadian society” (Pierson 22). During the War, mothers were able to show that they were also very capable of working outside the home, and still could care for their children, essentially maintaining a double day. “Even when women could find work, domestic labour did constitute a second work day separate from a job. The concept of a double day, developed by the contemporary feminists to explain women’s workload in society” (154 Bradbury). In 1945, post-war the majority of the wartime child care and nursery’s closed. With the closing of child care, this meant that the mothers who were working had to stop if they did not have other childcare available (56 #6). Most women wanted the child care facilities to remain open, so they could continue to work and have their pay cheques, and help support their families. Society would suggest that working mothers were neglecting their children even though some families needed both incomes. For example if the husband had an injury or the family had debt to pay off, mothers had to remain in the workforce and sometimes the mother enjoyed having a paying job. Post-war attitudes towards women working in the workforce had improved, and slowly many mothers were willing to seek employment and accept the extra responsibility that came with working outside the home.