MEN AND WOMEN IN THE USA Flashcards
what was happening to the status of women when the play was written?
-1947, marked a period of change in the status of women due to the effect ww2 had in increasing the number of women in the workforce and allowing more to become financially independent.
what were the experiences of women pre ww2 in the early 1920’s
-Generally, the expectations for a woman in early 20th-century America were limited to child-bearing, cleaning, and cooking.
-just 20% of women were categorised as paid workers.
-The primary role of men was to take care of their families, which they did by working outside of the home for pay.
-In 1900 a married woman had no separate legal identity from that of her husband. She had no right to control her biological reproduction or to own property.
-Apart from teaching, the jobs that women took did not require a formal education: fewer than 2% of all 18 to 24-year-olds were enrolled in higher education, just 1/3 of those being women.
when and how did women gain the right to vote
-The 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, giving women the right to vote.
experiences of women in the south compared to the north?
- due to the maintained traditional and conservative values In the South, more women were employed as servants, laundresses, and farm labourers than in the North
-In urban areas, a greater percentage of women were employed than in rural areas (progression of modernised America)
-women were more constrained and resisted within their identity and freedoms (e.g freedoms of sexual liberty) due to the importance of reputation, religion and conservative views upon women
characteristics of the ‘traditional family”
-men and women completely separated in roles and women dependant on men
representative of the ‘nuclear family’
what changes post ww2 effected the role of women
-wwII provided unprecedented opportunities for American women to enter jobs that had never been open to women, particularly in the defence industry.
-challenged fragile stereotypes of women
-baby boom, as seen in Stella further domesticated some women
