Women's Careers: An Expansion Through Time

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Recommended: The decline of the American dream in the 1920s

The idealized 19th century American Dream is a two-story house that housed two children, their parents, a cat, and a dog with a car or two sitting out front and dependable jobs for one or both parents. This lifestyle required a greater income for many families and as the second parent went to work it became apparent that a man trying to support his family alone in the 19th and 20th century could do so much more easily than a woman. Legislation was passed, movements occurred, women protested for equal pay, equal hours, equal opportunities. They succeeded. Yet, the question becomes were they successful enough? Is it enough to be legally able to get almost all the positions of a man even if not as many women are taking advantage of the opportunities? It is enough that women can achieve the career goals they wish without limitation if they have the drive to succeed? In the past women were limited in their career options, but in 21st century America this is not as it is only a woman’s capability that limits her career opportunity.
Lucy Stone's speech “Disappointment is the Lot of Women,” which she delivered in 1848, set the tone as the fight for woman’s rights was starting and women had very restricted rights. Stone made a logical argument that it was practical for women to have greater rights in employment. At this point in time women could only be teachers, seamstresses, and housekeepers and at best these jobs payed 14 cents a day which, accounting for inflation, is less than half the minimum wage per an hour today. (“CPI”) In her speech Stone uses a woman's wages being incapable to support a person to make the point, “Woman must marry for a home, and you men are the suffers by this; for a woman who loathes you may marry you becaus...

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...s.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/education/cb11-72.html>.
Stone, Lucy. "Disappointment Is the Lot of Women." Speech. Women's Rights Convention. Seneca Falls. 17 or 18 Oct. 1855. Bpi.org. Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. .
Taylor, Paul, Wendy Wang, and Kim Parker. "Breadwinner Moms." Pew Research Social and Demographic Trends. N.p., 29 May 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. .
"Women in Construction." Safety and Health Topics. United States Department of Labor, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. .
"Women's Rights Timeline." Annenbergclassroom.org. Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014
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