Some women went on to work in the factories. Others embraced the new job of sustaining the new no market values like love, friendship, and providing men with a shelter from the competitive market place. But ideas of gender roles had little to do with those women who worked the market place. They did the job even though they were not eligible for higher paying jobs. Not until after the civil war were they able to control their wages instead of their husbands.
However, some women joined the work force and would do jobs that men previously had held. Some were not forced to, but they had to work as hard as they could to support their families during this difficult time. In contrast, the writer Norman Cousins commented that there was a negative opinion on the women’s presence in the workforce despite women willing to acquire a living wage. He also stated in his book that the federal government proscribed holding government jobs by both members of a married couple, and many localities stopped hiring women whose husbands with a minimum wage (Cousins 1939). Another aspect of the Depression affecting life of women was the moral argument against working-women.
Should public assistance such as food stamps and welfare, be discontinued as it is harmful to our economy? This is a question but yet still a political concern I frequently ask myself. Why should public assistance subside when they are many people in need of it? I know of many single mothers who works over forty hours in a week just to make ends meet for her kids and to pay her bills and who still gets public assistance such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as many of us know it as food stamps and many other government help. These are hard working women who in fact, not only work overtime but are also an active supporter towards their kid’s education and extracurricular activities.
January 12,2012 AP World Hisory Woman most defiantly didn’t enjoy living in the Renaissance. During the Renaissance woman spent a majority of their life being responsible for raising children, being obedient to their ruthless husbands, working very hard and getting half the salary of men. The duties of the woman during the Renaissance were based on their class, but whether they were wealthy or peasants they lived by many harsh rules and strict regulations and their life was planned out by their fathers, not giving them a choice to choose their own life. There are many reasons why living in the Renaissance was unbearable for women, one being that their only choice in life was to marry and bear children. Bearing children was a fatal task, during the Renaissance 10% of the woman died in labor or after
The number of live births per year increased due to several factors such as children were used to work on farms (source of income) and in those days there was no reliable contraception and little education. The number of people dying was also high but still less in proportion to the birth rates. This was due to poor medical knowledge and poor diet, water and sanitation. More recently the birth rate has decreased and this is due to social, economic, cultural, legal, political and technological factors. A mixture of these factors led to the change in the position of women in society, the increase in equality, especially legally, including the right to vote (legal factor), the increase in educational opportunities (social factor) meant that women chose to educate themselves before starting a family, the increase in work opportunities with laws banning unequal pay and sex discrimination (social/legal factor)and changing attitudes in society meant that it was socially acceptable for women to be employed whereas traditionally the wife would be the housewife and the husband would be the breadwinner and would financially support his family.
The jobs that were previously done by men were now opened up to women. A typical man’s job, which comprised of working in the munitions factories, shipyards, farm, coal mines, drivers or bus conductors were now filled by women. The reason that this dramatic change occurred was because the men of the country were away fighting in the war. The war did not only create jobs at home but it also provided them with a chance to experience the outer world. It offered many women great opportunities to volunteer for the uniform services e.g.
Some women “felt they were needed at home to raise families, crops for food and to fill the jobs that the men had vacated in order to serve their country.”(Suite101) Women’s lives on the home front during World War II were a significant part of the war effort for all participants and had a major impact on the outcome of the war. Once the men went off to war and left their jobs, the women that were single had a great advantage because job opportunities were everywhere. In the other hand married women had a tough time, especially if they had children. Hundreds of women worked in machine shops, welding shops, manufacturing plants, and also worked in war industries to make equipment for the war. New industries, naval, and army bases were being built during the home front.
The work required to sustain a family in the rather bleak environmental situations of the early colonies was demanding for all. It is clear that a separation of labor existed in the colonial America. Women were to handle work that was generally associated with females, such as sewing, cooking, taking care of domestic animals, and making many of the necessities used in the household such as soap, candles, clothing and other necessities. In addition, because the survival of the family depended upon the contribution of every family member, including children, once they were old enough to work, women often had to step in to
The women from all three of the countries had to participate in farmworke or some type of work that would benefit the house. The woman’s main role was to take care of the house and the children, and if the husband was not home yet that also meant tending to the farm. And they were not allowed to own any kind of property
Women in this time were expected to do work such as gardening, which Elisa does. However, she longs to be an independent, “strong” woman. When the man tells Elisa that his work “ain’t the right kind of work for a woman” she tells him “she wishes a woman could do such things”. Unfortunately with minimal opportunity due to the depression and the narrow range of jobs for women she feels that her life is like a “closed pot”. Elisa believes that she’s “got a gift with things” but is not presented with a chance due to the historical setting so she must settle with her unsatisfactory life.