blog#9

Textbook
1. Men and women migrated to the United States in the hopes of better opportunities. Most came from Asia, Europe and Italy. Although men and women came for the same goal, more opportunity, their reasons behind the move were very different. Many women came to the United States in search of independence and the opportunity to marry whomever they chose. Men, who also came for freedom, mostly came to work temporarily, then return to their homeland with money. There was a high labor demand in the United States which provided immigrants with work yet little pay. Both men and women suffered the low wages without gender discretion. Male immigrants initially came more frequently than women, but that changed with the demand from the garment factories which employed many immigrant women. Many women were sexually abused on the trip to the United States and some after arriving turned to prostitution. Both men and women had to face the difficulties of relocating to a foreign and strange place, but it seems as though the women found more independence and freedom in the United States than the men did, in comparison to their homeland.

2. Women involved in the industrial protest, the populist movement and the settlement house movement may have all come from different backgrounds or with different skin color but they all ultimately shared one common goal: equality. Women in the industrial protest, fought for better wages, working conditions and not for one specific factory, but for all factories. These women worked alongside men, truly making this a wage and labor cause not solely a women’s right movement, though women were crucial in implementing and creating this cause. The populist movement came from farmers in the south, most whom were in debt. The Populist Party brought white and black women together leaving behind racial tension and focusing on the common goal of women’s suffrage. Women of the settlement house movement, led by elite and middle class women, sought to transition immigrants slowly rather than immediately. This was done for the betterment of immigrant’s lives and also for the community. The differences among these women are the causes they were fighting for. But whether it is for labor laws, suffrage or social reform, women broke boundaries by uniting with those from different classes and race.

Source Interpretation
3. Addams “diversity of experience” focused on the different levels of class, and experience in the lives of immigrants living around Hull House. She saw the poor as poor because they were lazy and therefore didn’t work. She saw the rich as those who lived in specific areas, such as Hull House, since there were rich women living there. The ‘landlords’ were seen as benevolent, though didn’t earn much respect from the poor. The rich would give the poor money and they would try to copy what the rich were wearing in terms of style. Thus the poor immigrants essentially loss their traditional wear and style. The view of all around the Hull House contributed greatly to Addams writing because it provided her with a shadowed view of the complications of ethical standards and immigrantion.

4. Addams, coming from a well off family and being college educated herself, moved into the Hull House, with preconceived ideas and thoughts that soon would likely change. Addams soon came to see that although there were differences in the classes of people, the reasoning for these classes may not be as clear as she had thought. For instance, the poor, she came to realize, were not poor because they were lazy, but because they couldn’t do better for themselves, it wasn’t a choice they had made but rather a choice life had made for them. It was the structure of class itself that kept women in these ill defined roles and places in society. Addams saw that it was society that allowed for rich and poor to be divided so deeply since the rich controlled the money and wages that the poor worked desperately for. Her experience in Hull House allowed her to change her point of view, open her eyes a little wider and come to better understand women from all classes, including the rich and poor.

Blog #8

Textbook
1. After the Civil War, women’s participation in the labor force increased dramatically. Industrialization played a major role in this since more factories, specifically garment factories, were prevalent. Typewriters were introduced after the Civil War and a new type of clerical work was preformed by women. Women were finding new independence by earning wages either just for material gains, such as clothing, or to support family members. Women’s wages were considerably lower than men’s though they worked the same amount of hours, and arguably more difficult jobs. The labor force divided women by their status, or class. The working class women worked long hours, with little pay and then also went home to care for children. The working class women produced more children than the elite and middle class and therefore also had more mouths to feed. The demand for goods set by the middle and elite classes, left working class women with much to produce, but not enough to move up in class. The elite and middle class women lived more leisurely. Though without formal education, they were educated in the ways of being a ‘lady’. Both classes were often times able to hire domestic servants, leaving them time to shop and buy the goods the working class women produced. This demand and produce cycle kept women in classes divided but provided stability economically.

2. The first image shows three Native American girls in their traditional garments. The second shows them after they were Americanized and attending boarding schools. The second image shows us that they no longer are wearing traditional Native American clothes, but instead are wearing ‘proper’ white American clothes. Their hair was also styled in American fashion and they appear to be more ‘civilized’ now that they no longer sit on the floor, but instead at a table. The governments desire to strip Native Americans from their traditional lifestyle and force them to acquire American traditions was done effectively though at the raw expense of Native Americans. The pain and sadness shown on these young girls faces allow us to see how hard it must have been for Native Americans to fit into the lifestyles White Americans imposed on them.

Source Interpretation
1. Bessie Van Vorst meets many different kinds of women while working in the factory. She meets women of all ages and learns that they also have different reasons for working there. Some need to work to produce food on the table at home, and to pay rent. Others are fully supported at home by family members, but chose to work so they can but goods for themselves. Bessie separates women at the factory by calling them bread-winners and semi-bread winners. This shows us the differences in the reasons why women were working. The bread-winners are more eager to produce more goods, if being paid by piece work, so they can make more money and pay the bills at home. The other girls are happy to just be there making extra money. Since the women are not all working for the same monetary goal, it is hard for them to all rebel and demand better pay. There is not enough incentive for the women choosing to work as opposed to women who have to work in order to survive. This shows us that there is even a division among women in the working class.

2. Van Vorst concludes that women are passive in accepting their work conditions because no one is willing to stand up for themselves and demand better conditions or better pay. She notes that they are not strong enough and lack in spirit. I do agree that these women accept their pay and conditions but not because of lack of strength. I think that it is a lack of strength in numbers since not all women are working for a common goal. That is why they are not strong enough and lack spirit. Some women who are working for personal pleasures might not be as willing to fight for better pay as are those who are trying to survive. Another reason is that the men refused to do ‘women’s’ work, such as cleaning, which the male bosses accepted. Since cleaning was already a female domestic duty the women were most likely not as hesitant to do the job, though they complained that they shouldn’t have to. But since it wasn’t crossing gender lines, as it was for the men, women didn’t fight as hard, if at all, and accepted cleaning as part of their jobs.