1. “Women not girls rule my world” --Prince
Women and Work
“Women not girls rule my world”
--Prince

2. Remember: Separate Spheres
Women were given control over the domestic sphere where they worked while men worked in the public sphere
Thus, women do not work outside the house or get paid for their work because only men get paid for work
Women do not need to be paid because their work is a natural expression of their femininity and maternal instinct

3. Industrialization Provided More Jobs to Women
Women are the first to work in textile factories like Lowell Mills
This is a change because they’re getting paid, working outside the home, and living alone instead of working for free, working on the farm, and living with their family
Before that, women bring outside work into their homes by:
Spinning
Weaving
Ready made clothes
Hatmaking
So, women are gradually working outside the home even though because they were women they were not considered “workers”

4. Women Can’t Make Money but Control It?
Remember, women were given control of the domestic sphere which meant they got to control the household budget
So women had control of the money even though they were not seen as the primary financial providers
#ironic

5. Industrialization Brought Jobs and Problems
Safety in the workplace
Ex: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in which hundreds of young women burned to death
Long work hours
Child labor
Temperance
Housing
Public health/sanitation

6. WWI and WWII = More Jobs, Different Jobs for Women
WWI and WWII mobilized society meaning more jobs were created because we needed products to fight the war
Ex: Steel mills, plane factories, etc.
Not only were there more jobs, but more women filled these jobs because men were away fighting the war leaving women in control of the home front
During WWII:
Women in manufacturing: up 141%
Women in government: up 260%
75% to 85% wanted to keep their jobs
72% of employed women were married, not single

7. The Catch
Women were working in increased numbers and in jobs typically dominated by males so it’s great! But…
Women working in industrial jobs and other higher-paying work was seen as temporary
Women were expected to leave their jobs as soon as the men returned from war and return to pink collar jobs such as teachers, secretaries, and nurses

8. Women in the Workforce More women entered the workforce in the 1950s
1940 – 25% of women worked
1960 – 35% of women worked
These were not just single women because…
1940 – 17% of wives work
1960 – 32% of wives work
These were not just young women because mothers also increased their participation in the workforce
Because moms were having children at younger ages and Americans were living longer, women began work once their children reached school age

9. Why were more women working?
WWII
Women took on traditionally males jobs during the war such as government, manufacturing, and war industries
Once the war ended, women were lost these jobs but they continued working in white collar (clerical work, nursing, teaching) and pink color jobs (waitressing, hairdressing, personal care, etc.)
Consumer Culture and good economy = more jobs

10. The Real Housewives of the 1950s

11. Was 1950s Suburban Housewife a myth?
Largely, yes because…
Most people could not afford to move to the suburbs and buy all these new products like TVs and wash machines
Not everyone was as financially stable as the white and middle class (what about Chinese women? Black women? Native American women?)
Women did not just stay at home
We already saw how the number of women (young, old, married, single, and mothers) were working
BUT…the image of the perfect housewife was in ads and in television because the US wanted to make itself seem like the best and they thought women staying at home was how to beat the Soviet Union