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.
4 comments:
Ruba, R # 1
Hello Rachel,
I, as always, enjoyed reading Blog. You answers were very clear and provided a great insight on the chapter.
You made great points about women’s wage labor especially in regards to the increasing number of women entering the labor force, technological advancement that introduced women to higher paying jobs and the issue of low wages. You made a good point about the elite women demanding more goods, which resulted in the need for more production. In a way, that made more jobs available for the working class women but on the other hand, the wages for these women were so little and sometimes not enough to cover the basic expenses that it was not even worth the hard work and long hours these women put in, I thought. That was a great description and analysis for the second question (chapter 6). I, too, believe that these girls were very sad and not only because their freedom was, to an extent, taking away by forcing them to attend boarding schools, but because they were also pressured to forget their traditional ways and their people’s teachings and force them to adapt to the ‘American way’. I thought it was interesting that you thought the reason for women not fighting for higher wages was because they were not all working out of the need for the money but some were working just to gain more independence. That might have been a reason for women to just accept whatever wages they were being paid at the time. I thought that some women were excited to just work and be able to bring extra income and feel the freedom of not having to do domestic work all day every day that they were not complaining much at the beginning.
Have a nice spring break.
R #1-Jonas
Rachel you make some very good points in your blog. Working class women were doing a lot more of there grunt work, and got paid very little. And as you said many of them had mouths to feed and any money was better than no money in terms of survival and providing for the family. You interpreted the picture very well, you are right that it must have been hard especially on native American children to be brought up one way then being forced into a school to be raised in another way. Their faces show the hardships that they went through. And the women in the factories were happy to some degree of what they were making. But some as you said could not survive on their little salary but none of the women would stand together to demand for a wage increase. Their inability to unite was a big reason in which they did not get what they should have gotten for the amount of time and energy they worked.
Aylin R#2
Hello Ruba, you analyzed Rachel’s blog so well, you did it so precisely and read each part of her blog so carefully. I like how you both pointed out that more jobs were becoming available for women because the Elite women were demanding more and more goods which gave the women of inferior ranks more opportunities to work in the factories and find other similar jobs. I also agree on your point regarding women not complaining about their unfair working conditions, less breaks, less pay, and bad lunch offers. This was their chance to start making money, whether extra money for the family, or money to spend on themselves or to actually make a living and pay for rent. In this condition, they were happy with whatever they could get from working and weren’t about to risk anything by complaining about their low wages. Over all, good analysis of Rachel’s blog, I enjoyed reading it as we had some common points and you guys pointed out a different view for the desire of women to keep working. Nice job and have a wonderful break.
Elias-R#2
Response to Jonas
You had a good overall analysis of the blog. You were able to summarize what was written in the blog. I would have to agree with everything that you said because everything was a fact rather than an opinion. The Native American girls in the picture had a very good reason to be sad because they were stripped of their livelihood and taken away from all their loved ones that had taken care of them during the first few years of their lives. The children did show their hardships through the image which allowed many to see the psychological and emotional effects that assimilation had on these children.
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