Throughout American history, women have filled many different roles within the employment sector of society. The expectations for acceptable work for women has also evolved over the years. This paper will discuss the evolution of acceptable work for women from the preindustrial era, to the industrial era, mid-20th century, and after the 1980’s.
Starting in the preindustrial era, women were limited in the amount of employment roles they we able to fulfill, which include housecleaning, raising children, teaching, nursing, and all aspects of obstetrics. The more professional roles were filled by women who came from wealthy families, who were also able to afford to pay for a female to go to college. At the same time, many minorities, especially African American women were limited to the housecleaning and raising children, because this was a primary role filled by this ethnic group throughout history. It is also important to understand in the year 1890, only 5% of all doctors at the time were female. Thinking about the time period this seems like a decent percentage, especially since the education opportunities for women were much smaller.
During the industrial era, women filled roles within factories and continued to handle other types of domestic labor like sewing, cooking, and cleaning. Additionally, these women were also paid very little compared to their male counterparts, which was the driving force to make the employment of women in factories socially acceptable. At this time, it became harder and harder for women to find substantial work, because children were also employed.
During the mid to late 20th century, women were restricted back to employment within the home, because the veterans had returned from the war and were prepared to start families and return to their regular jobs. Women were still able to fill roles as secretaries, teachers, and nurses, but in most cases these women only filled these roles before they were married and had children. Nurses may have continued their work, but it would be limited to hours when their children were in school or if there was an emergency.
After 1980, it was no longer affordable for American families to survive with only one household income, which sent women back into the workforce at record numbers. By 1980, the doctor population was now 17% female. Women were graduating from college at record high levels, which enabled them to work in different business sectors.
In conclusion, women have become active in the employment sector of society, but even in the modern world, women are still unable to make the same amount as their male counterparts for the same work. In general, careers that were mostly linked with female roles including nursing and teaching have lost personnel at record numbers because women are now free to choose whatever business secotr they want to participate in. At the end of the 20th century women were also able to fight the military’s ban on females in active war zones. This was a serious step forward to showing the sexes are equal and men and women can fill any and all work roles.
Works Cited
Women's International Center. Women's International Center. 2015. 18 May 2016. <http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm>.
