Topic 3 Flashcards
the impact of WW1 on the position of women
-women were given the chance to work in war-related jobs. They were paid less than men would have been paid for these jobs and most were fired when men returned from the war
-women were given the right to vote in 1918 -> from then on politicians had to listen to female voters’ concerns
-League of Women was set up in 1920 to conduct voter registration drives and encourage voting. Fewer black women voted, especially from the south, and it was mainly white women who felt that voting was a significant change.
what happened after the war (1)?
-changing industries meant that there were more office jobs which were considered suitable for women such as typing
-a Women’s Bureau of Labour was set up in 1920 to improve women’s working conditions and to campaign for wider employment
-the number of working women nearly doubled (7 mil to 13 mil) between 1910 and 1940
^ however, women were still ‘last hired’ and ‘first-fired’
flappers
-some young women referred by this term
-they cut their hair short, worked, wore short dresses - some even smoked, drank and drove cars -> many were sexually free
-they often behaved like young men, even going to boxing matches without a male escort
-conservative ppl were shocked and public reviews of women shifted even though flappers were a minority of the population
-once women had married they settled down into a more traditional role
the Great Depression impact on women
-it affected people across class rather than gender - well-off ppl managed best - poor ppl suffered the most
-if husbands kept their jobs, women with their families managed or looked for work to supplement their husband’s income.
-women who were divorced or widowed had to take any job available
^women now seemed to work since they had to not because they wanted to
-the women’s bureau was largely ignored within the bureau of labour. some women thought that it held the progress of women back as it supported legislation that limited each woman’s working day to 10hrs, restraining potential income.
-labour regulation often applied to industrial workers only - not to farming or domestic work where the workforce was predominantly female and/or black
The New Deal impact on women
-the administration was aware of the struggles and pressure that fell on women and families
^ they led initiatives like Aid for Families with Dependent Children to provide some aid for the very poorest but general employment came first under the New Deal so men took all the jobs (e.g. the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) gave about 2.5 mil young men aged 17-23 conservation work)
-Roosevelt’s wife wanted similar programmes for women - Camp Tera was set up, largely privately-funded. After she hosted a conference the camps were federally funded. by 1936 there were 36 camps but they provided no wages and only lasted a couple months.
-Black women got even less out of the New Deal than white women (if a white woman earned 61/100 compared to a man a black one earned 23/100)
-^ Housewives league were first set up in Detroit - aimed to organise help for the most in need and for women to buy goods from black-run stores
^ they then spread to other regions across USA and provided small-scale help.
ww2 impact on women
-women repeated their work from ww1 and proved they could do ‘men’s work’.
-STSA was passed in 1940 to prepare to draft men and train women to replace them
-Under Lanham’s Act, childcare was extended in 1941 to alleviate issues around childcare that prevented women from working: by 1944, c.130,000 children were in daycare
-Women’s Land Army from ww1 was reformed to replace male farm workers. The Labour bureau estimated 3 mil women worked in agriculture in 1943
-Shortages meant that women from minority groups could train for jobs for the first time - the nr of black nurses rose, e.g although the workplace discrimination continued
Post war (2) changes impacts on women
-many women lost their jobs when the war goods factories once again went back to producing civilian goods
-on the other hand, not all men went back to their own jobs - the GI Bills gave education opportunities to veterans
-c. 1/2 married women who had worked left their jobs after the war due to social pressure or the end of federal daycare in 1946. Widowed or unmarried women had no choice but to work.
-female employment fell after the war but rose again, particularly for middle aged married women, in contrast to the years after ww1
-women who trained for wartime jobs like nursing continued on having learnt the required skills (black women profited too to some degree)
-society changed to be more tolerant of women (particularly married women) working and women themselves developed a taste for it
-female workers continued to be paid less than men, they did lower-skilled jobs and faced hostility from the men they worked alongside.
suburban living 1941-1960
-after the war, suburbs grew on the outskirts of the cities
-the wage-earning husband usually went out to work while the woman stayed at home to raise the children or to do housework
-suburbs created their own social lives - women living at home formed social groups and those who worked were excluded, as were those who didn’t conform to the expectations of suburban living e.g hedges, lawns
-a stereotype to aspire to was created of women using labour-saving devices in affluent suburbs, looking after their wage-earning husbands
-the growth of the suburbs led to ‘white flight’ from the inner-cities. Those who remained were poor and the cities were locked into a downward spiral. Non-white ghettos fostered racism
-out-of-town shopping malls developed, the first opening in 1956. These became a social focal point
Women’s liberation 1961-80
(the politics of equality)
-president Kennedy, influenced by Eleanor Roosevelt, set up a commission in 1961 to investigate the status of women
-the commission praised the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and wider federal gov job opportunities following a directive in 1960
-the commission also found that enforcement was badly needed for the Act as female wages were uniformly lower and that non-white women were in an even worse position
-the report noted that girls were not encouraged to think about careers. The 1958 Education Act said that schools had to have job counsellors but they were few in nr.
-Gender discrimination was included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act
who passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
LBJ
Betty Friedan
-The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963 about the constraints of suburban life and the problems of white, married women
-women started to think about their respective positions- especially educated, middle-class white women
-the first and biggest movement was the National Organisation for Women (NOW) which was founded in ‘66 which included Betty
-National organisations fought for enforcement of the Civil Rights and Equal Pay Acts + an Equal Rights Amendment. They held meetings and lobbied politicians
Young radicals
-many members of the movement had worked with other civil rights groups like SDS or SNCC. They had tried to raise issues of women’s equality but even there they faced sexism.
-instead they set up radical groups. These small groups were the first to speak of ‘liberation’
-magazines and other publications like Voice of the Women’s Liberation Movement spread into the news
-The media focused on the radical and inflammatory factions of the movement, mocking the cause as a whole
Action
-both the radicals and conventional feminists wanted the same thing
-Nationwide action did take place: there was a strike of women on 26th August 1970. Membership of NOW rose by over 50% following this strike
-The campaigns gained some tractions, in part because of the permissive atmosphere of the 60s and early 70s
Opposition
-the women’ liberation movement attracted much opposition
-conservatives used radicals’ declarations that all men were the enemy to mock the movement and preached ‘family values’ and ‘tradition’
-the movement got even less support as liberalism gave way to conservatism in the 70s
-equal rights was easier to demand than economic and social equality etc
-ERA was opposed by people like Phyllis Schalfly
Gains
-the movement took actions through the Civil Rights and Equal Pay Acts
-LBJ issued an executive order in ‘67 for affirmative action in the federal gov and its contractors
-the Supreme Court upheld contraception in Eisennstatd vs Baird in ‘72 and abortion in Roe vs Wade in ‘73
Limitations
-congress voted in favour of the Equal rights amendment in ‘72 but it did not get the required ratification by at least 38 states within 10 yrs.
-The USA didn’t sign up to the Un’s ‘79 policy of introducing non-discrimination against all women in all aspects of life
-it was difficult to enforce laws against employers practicing casual discrimination
-the women’s liberation movement disintegrated because of conservatism and also fragmentation: many women (working class, poorly-educated etc) were not represented.
immigration pre 1917
-the USA had operated on “open door” immigration policy - the USA had always welcomed immigrants
-Immigrants came increasingly from eastern and Southern Europe rather than the north
-the vast majority of immigrants lived and worked in the cities
