Women's Employment in Britain Before the War The number of job opportunities for women was low because they weren't expected to work and there were only a few jobs thought suitable for a woman to do. A woman working was often seen as stealing the job and wages from a man who might have a family to support. Working-class women could take menial jobs such as servants and cooks, in middle-class family homes or in hotels cooking and cleaning. This was seen as good work experience for becoming a housewife and training in how to look after their own homes. Women were seen as dextrous, they had nimble fingers and were good at working with small, fragile things and they were employed as dressmakers, milliners, shawl makers, bookbinders, lace makers, matchbox makers, artificial flower makers and tobacco workers. Working-class women were employed in textile factories as cheap labour and were paid half the wage of a man. For the same reasons they were employed on farms to pick fruit and hops and the farmer could afford to employ twice as many women as men. There were less jobs open to middle-class women. They worked as teachers in primary schools because they were patient with small children but they had to have a good education themselves. For the same reasons women were employed as governesses. Before 1880 women didn't work in offices but after1900 when the typewriter was invented, they were employed to use their dextrous and nimble fingers to type. A few middle-class women were doctors but there were only 250 in the whole of Britain because it was very difficult for a woman to get a university place and to train as a doctor at that time. Some middle-class women worked as milliners and they also made dresses, hats and shawls. Women were seen as kind, caring and gentle people, which is why hospitals employed them to comfort patients and reassure them while in hospital. They also came across as kind people when stood behind a cash register in a shop as
is only a snapshot of one moment in history. It does not tell us about
themselves in a world ran by males. The men had the jobs, the men had
Prior to the decade, the Artisan system of employment was the most common. Women were not sent away at a young age to become an apprentice. They were responsible for staying at home to learn how to be the caretaker of the home. Women were able to pursue economic independence when the Factory system was introduced in America. The creation of unskilled labor make it possible for women to work beside men in a business. This created a new battleground for equality between the sexes, though it was not an easy fight. Only 3% of women were granted permission to join a union in this time period (Shi 63). The Supreme Court supported the argument that men were naturally superior to women.They were stronger and able to endure longer working hours. Many women agreed with this; and some did not. Whether in agreement or not, most women did not believe that they should receive less pay because of their naturally weaker physique. Leonora Barry complained that men’s “earnings count from nine to fifteen dollars a week and upward…[women’s] work of
Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese Navy was a surprise strike that led to the entrance of United States into World War II. American society was transformed; patriotic men were urged to leave behind their families and enter into the military. The absence of men issued women, the natural caregivers and housewives, to take on workforce responsibilities. World War II gave birth to a new nation forever changing the roles of women in the United States. All women on the homefront were affected by the changes caused by the war. For numerous women, the war was gave them time to gain strength, independence and responsibilities in areas majority of women were oblivious towards. This was the cause for Mrs. Helen Litts and American women; pressures of husbands, fathers, sons, and children abandonment to the war, experienced food and money rationing, blackouts, changes in fashion, and new duties due to the effects of the war.
submissive, powerless objects of their husbands. Equality and balance within their marriages were of no
pay for women was an accepted practice. Society took no notice when job rates dropped as women, instead of men, were hired to do them (librarians and
Plan of Investigation This investigation will evaluate the question, to what extent did the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force assist the Allies’ war efforts during the Second World War? This question is important because in World War 1 British women were active in the war effort but to a limited extent, acting as nurses on the battle field and working in munitions factories, but resumed their traditional roles in society after the war. In World War 2 women were more active in the military through auxiliary groups, such as Women’s Auxiliary Force (WAAF) and it is important to understand how much of an impact their work made on the Allies war effort.
The 1940s provided a drastic change in women’s employment rates and society's view of women. With the end of the Depression and the United States’ entrance into World War II, the number of jobs available to women significantly increased. As men were being drafted into military service, the United States needed more workers to fill the jobs left vacant by men going to war. Women entered the workforce during World War II due to the economic need of the country. The use of Patriotic rhetoric in government propaganda initiated and encouraged women to change their role in society. Yet, at the end of the war, the same ideas that encouraged women to accept new roles had an averse affect on women, encouraging them to leave the workforce. The patriotism promoted by propaganda in the 1940s, encouraged Americans to support the war effort and reinforced the existing patriarchal society. Propaganda's use of patriotism not only increased loyalty to America during the war, but also, increased loyalty to the traditional American patriarchal values held in society.
A woman in the workplace was common but they did not receive the pay they deserved. Often, a woman’s job was the same as the previous male, but they did these jobs for 53% of the male’s pay. (Tolman) Eventually many woman and men went on strike demanding equal pay.
The Second Industrial Revolution had a major impact on women's lives. After being controlled fro so long women were experiencing what it was like to live an independent life. In the late nineteenth century women were participating in a variety of experiences, such as social disabilities confronted by all women, new employment patterns, and working class poverty and prostitution. These experiences will show how women were perceived in the Second Industrial Revolution.
This essay will be focusing on women who worked during the world war two and their roles in the community. Not only would it focus on their roles it will also look at the fashion of these women; what they wore to work during the war, after the war and what is being worn to work nowadays. The research on the fashion change relates to my work the most as i’ve tried to portray the changes in the fashion of these working class women, what it means and how it shows off women as a being. Even though most of the women that worked during the second world war were said to be in the middle-class range this essay will focus on the working-class females in the society. One of the major subject matter in this essay will be the “Rosie the Riveter” poster although created by various artist during the World War II, the meanings in each posters mirrored the next. Also this essay will reflect on some of the numerous female war artists that used women to portray strength, elegance and raw femininity.
Many of people today feel trapped inside their homes, just how the women of Pre-Industrial Europe felt. Working day in and day out inside the homes, just to keep the family together, and make a little money on the side, these women were an integral part of Pre-Industrial families. Not only were the women important to Pre-Industrial European families, but so were the households. Much of the money was made in the households, and this is where families either succeeded or failed. The household and women of Pre-Industrial Europe played an integral role in the economy of the families, and more importantly, the women of these households kept them running smoothly. Without either of these important aspects of life in Pre-Industrial Europe, it is safe to say that the families would have collapsed, due to a lack of organization and structures. Pre-Industrial Europe, in which the women and the household were “the factories” per se, due to the income they generated, was much different from the Europe we know today. Leading into the Industrialization of Europe beginning in the late 1700's and lasting through the early 1800's, the household played an integral role in the family’s income. Without the household, the families would literally collapse, due to a lack of organization and stability. Within these important family sub-units, there was one married couple, their children, the family’s servants, and in some cases, depending upon the region of Europe, there were grandparents, aunts and uncles. Not only did the father and servants of the house work, but also the women and children. Also, in the case of there being more than one generation of family in a single household, depending upon the region of Europe, the grandparents, aunts, and uncles would also work within the house. Once the children of these households reached a certain age, usually the early teens, they were sent off to work in a house as a servant. These servants were different then the servants of today, as they worked for room, board, and food, not waiting on the family. Once they started to generate income, the teens would save up the money necessary to begin their own family. However, there were the few exceptions; teens that did not work as servants, and ended up marrying into an existing household. This however,...
When American officially entered World War II in 1941 changes occurred for many people. The draft was enacted forcing men to do their duty and fight for their country. Women were asked to hold down the home front in many ways, ranging from rationing, volunteering, saving bacon grease and making the most of their commodities they currently had. There was also a hard push for women to take war production jobs outside the home. Before the depression, just a few years before the war, it was not uncommon for a woman to work for wages, but as the depression set in, married women were at risk of losing their jobs. Numerous women were fired or asked to resign in order to make room for a man who had lost his job. Many citizens felt it was unfair for a family to have two wage earners when some families had none. (Kessler-Harris) Previously, the average workforce of women was young and single. However, when the war started, couples were married at a younger age, putting the typical worker in short supply. This led to a rapid increase in older married women going to work outside the home. “During the depression, 80 percent of Americans objected to wives working outside the home, by 1942, only 13 percent still objected.” (May) By the end of the war, 25 percent of married women were employed. (May) Although women had worked outside the home prior to World War II, their entrance into the war production labor force created change in the typical gender roles and provided an exciting and yet difficult time for many women who were gaining their independence.
Hence, their recruitment was not founded on the basis that they were already “available” for exploitation, buy they were considered as ‘cheap labourers’. This resulted into women outnumbering women in the slave
Although employment did not come that easily for women, the working conditions were horrible, and women were paid significantly less than men. Another big controversy at the start-up of women working in factories and workhouses was that they were taking jobs from men, who were thought to deserve these jobs over women. In The Culture of Sensibility: Sex and Society in Eighteenth-century Britain, Barker-Benfield retells a story of two women being wrongfully and unreasonably punished for a simple recreational walk through the fields in their town after their church service. For their simple and peaceful walk they were sentenced to either pay a great amount of money for prophane walking or to be laid one hour in the stocks, what would be equivalent to modern day community service type work. “Women’s leisure activities were occasional and heterosocial; they had no equivalent to the daily, public, institutional, homosociality of men” (Barker-Benfield 54).