Women + Suburbs 1917-1980 Flashcards
What law gave women the vote and what date was it
19th Amendment, 18th August 1920
What organisation was set up in 1920 to encourage women to vote
the League of Women Voters
Why did many women not vote independently in the years after getting the vote
They were often forced by their husbands to vote the same as them and hardly any black women had the chance to vote
What changed in the role of women during WW1 and what was the expectation regarding it in the future
Women were expected by many men to resume their traditional role as housewives and mothers after adopting the more ‘masculine’ role of working in WW1, and some did, but others wanted to stay in employment
What limits did women have in work after WW1
Most got fired from their wartime work, and most jobs left were often from home and paid little. Some jobs, like teaching, were banned for married women
What demographic of women were most interested in breaking tradition in favour of a more liberal life in the 1920s
Single, wealthier, usually white
What change in industries created more opportunities for women to work in the 1920s
The rise of office jobs, for example working in a typing pool
What was set up to improve women’s working conditions and employment opportunities, and in what year
(1920) Women’s Bureau of Labor
Number of working women (in both number and %) in the years:
1910
1940
1910: 7,640,000 (8.3% of the population)
1940: 13,007,000 (9.8% of the population)
What were Flappers
An identity of liberal women in the 1920s who ‘acted like young men’. They worked, cut their hair short, wore more provocative clothing, often smoked, drank and drove their own cars. They attended sporting events like boxing alone, and went to jazz clubs without a man.
What was the conservative reaction to flappers
They were appalled and were disgusting at the breaking of traditions. They assumed the liberal nature of these women meant they allowed themselves full sexual freedom too, which was sometimes true, sometimes not.
How did flappers change the perception of women in the 1920s and was this representative
Women became nationally seen as more immoral and disrespectful
This is despite flappers being a very small percentage of the female population, with most becoming more traditional after marriage (due to employment laws) so the women themselves as a national group changed less than perceived
What was the impact of the Great Depression on women
It meant their husbands could no longer afford to keep the family well by themselves so women were forced to work even if they didn’t want to
Give a fact showing how women worked out of necessity, not choice, during the Great Depression
In 1932, a Women’s Bureau of Labour Report found that 97% of women working in slaughterhouses and meat packing did it for the money and not for any other reason
What two laws did the Women’s Bureau of Labor support that meant many women upset
- 10 hour per day working limit for women, which meant in order to afford to live in the Great Depression, women had to break the 10 hour rule at risk of being fired
- Put in a minimum wage for women before they did for men, meaning that women couldn’t work at some jobs who could not afford those wages
Why did Women benefit little directly from the New Deal
The policies were focused more on men and getting men into employment
Name an example of a part of the New Deal that was only for men, what years it was in place, how many men it affected and what this inspired
the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942
Found work for young men, paying them a real wage to dig reservoirs and plant trees in army camps. 2.5 million men were involved, and it inspired Camp Tera
Who created Camp Tera, what year was it created and most active, and what did it involve
Created by Eleanor Roosevelt. It was set up as one camp in 1933, and had 36 camps with 5000 total people by 1936. While the women did not work or get paid, they received training in budgeting and office work like typing, as well as having time to play sports and socialise in the woods
In the Great Depression, for every dollar a white man would get paid, how much would a white and black women be paid
For every $1 earned by a white man…
- $0.61 for a white woman
- $0.23 for a black women
Name two positives and two negatives of Camp Tera
+: It provided valuable training which helped women get a job
+: It made women feel more empowered and raised their self-esteem dramatically
-: They were not paid
-: Each camp was about 2-3 months long which wasn’t that long
What organisation encouraged women to buy from black-run businesses to encourage better employment for black people and black women specifically, and who set it up in what year
Housewives League of Detroit, set up by Fannie Peck in 1930
How did Women improve their public perception in the 1940s
They showed they could do men’s work well when many men had gone to fight in WW2
What two areas were women trained to work in during WW2
Shipbuilding and Aircraft Assembly
What act trained women to fill the role of men in factories
1940 Selective Training and Service Act
What prevented many women from working at the start of the war, and what act changed this
Many women couldn’t work as there was nobody to look after their children, but they could then work thanks to the 1941 Lanham Act
What was the 1941 Lanham Act, and give a key fact about its numbers
It created ‘wartime nurseries’, where children could stay while their dad fought and mum worked. At its peak in 1944, 130,000 children were in daycare via the Lanham Act
The Lanham Act rose the % of married women in the workforce from __% to __%
The Lanham Act rose the % of married women in the workforce from 15% to 23%
