I have been exploring a bit of women's history in my research on the Progressive Movement in the United States. During the early twentieth century, the progressives worked to get women into government service and into unions. Remember that the progressives want to manage society. The best way to manage a society is to have all members of society working for government or big business.
After the conflict that we call World War II ended, many women left the workforce to get married and start families. The 1950s ushered in an era of prosperity in the United States that had never before been seen. The middle class grew by leaps and bounds.
This prosperity was brought about by a surplus of cash that many people in the United States had. During the war the government instituted rationing so the resources of the nation could be put into the war effort. Since people could not spend money during the war, they had lots of money to spend once the war was over. The young couples that were buying suburban homes with dishwashers and televisions were children of the Great Depression. They knew what is was like to be without food. They also wanted a better life for their children.
Women left the workforce not because they were told to, but because they wanted to. They knew how their mother's struggled during the Great Depression to help provide for their families. Women wanted the luxury of being able to stay at home and raise their children knowing that they did not have to worry about where their next meal was coming from. Progressives saw this as a setback for women's rights. American history textbooks scorn women who decided to stay home and raise families rather than work outside the home.
Parents of the 1950s spoiled their children rotten. A very influential writer, Dr. Benjamin Spock, wrote an influential book - Baby and Child Care. Remember back in the 1920s women were encouraged to look to "experts" outside the extended family for advice on how to raise their children. The old adage "spare the rod, spoil the child" was tossed away. Spock proposed a child centric family unit rather than the parents disciplining the child and molding the child into what they expected as far as behavior and lifetime goals. Also, since the parents had more disposable income than ever before, they bought their children many luxuries that the children began to expect as entitlements rather than privileges, from records and record players to their own cars.
Even though many women left the workforce after World War II, one third of married women continued to work outside the home. Again market forces were at work rather than the artificial influences of government and big business. My maternal grandmother was a single mother who worked as a teacher after she was widowed. My paternal grandmother and my husband's grandmothers continued to work outside the home after the war ended. The ability for women to obtain jobs did not end with World War II. If women wanted to work, they could. If they didn't want to work, they didn't have to.
My next post will look at the next generation of women. The sense of entitlement that they gained as children spilled over into their early adulthood. It erupted into another sexual revolution that has set women back by centuries. As these women burned their bras and broke glass ceilings, they abandoned the family and their purpose.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Women at War
Over the last few posts I have been dealing with women's issues during the early twentieth century and have tried to focus on the influence of the progressive movement on women's issues and rights. This post will focus on women in the labor force during World War II. This is because the focus of women's rights after the Nineteenth Amendment was passed was on women in the workplace.
After December 6, 1941, the day that will live in infamy with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the mindset of the United States changed. Up until that point the United States was watching what was going on in Europe as a spectator and didn't want to get involved. Just as the bombings of the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 changed our outlook on world events, the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor changed our outlook back then. Americans decided that they had been attacked and needed to fight back.
Both of my grandfathers went to enlist in the military shortly after the Japanese and Germany declared war upon us. My paternal grandfather was rejected because of his poor eyesight, but my maternal grandfather was able to join and went on to serve under George S. Patton in Africa and Europe. My paternal grandmother had a college degree and had a job working as a medical technologist. My maternal grandmother did not work.
My husband's grandfathers did not serve in the military, but both of his grandmothers worked at least part-time outside the home. His maternal grandmother worked part time as a bookkeeper while his paternal grandmother worked full time as a teacher.
Market forces more than anything drove women into the workforce during World War II. Many young men were leaving the factories, clerical jobs for private corporations, and government bureaucracy for the military. This left a labor gap that was filled by women and other minorities. Yes, the federal government started the Rosie the Riveter campaign to convince women to enter the workforce, but women would have entered the workforce anyway. The nation was still recovering from the Great Depression, and with the United States' entrance into the war, now it was acceptable for women to go into the workforce since many of the men were now overseas fighting against the tyranny of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
Women also began to join the military as well. They were not involved in combat operations though. Even today women are not accepted in regular combat units. Women who served in the WAACs (army) and WAVEs (navy) worked in a clerical capacity. Again, these are market forces at work. Men moved into a combat role once hostilities began which left a demand for workers in the clerical area of the military. These positions were filled by women.
On the home front women did move into industrial jobs. Again the law of supply and demand influenced this move more than government's encouragement of the move. Due to the drop in male labor here in the States, women and minorities naturally filled those vacated positions. Women and minorities also began to join labor unions in higher numbers than before.
The progressive writers of modern history textbooks would have us believe that the government played a huge role in drawing women out of their homes and into the workplace during World War II. However, the market forces of supply and demand were what drove women into jobs. As is evidenced by my husband's and my grandparents, a majority (three out of four) had jobs working at least part-time outside the home. Women in the workplace became more acceptable mainly because many men joined the military and left a void in the labor force here in the United States.
After December 6, 1941, the day that will live in infamy with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the mindset of the United States changed. Up until that point the United States was watching what was going on in Europe as a spectator and didn't want to get involved. Just as the bombings of the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 changed our outlook on world events, the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor changed our outlook back then. Americans decided that they had been attacked and needed to fight back.
Both of my grandfathers went to enlist in the military shortly after the Japanese and Germany declared war upon us. My paternal grandfather was rejected because of his poor eyesight, but my maternal grandfather was able to join and went on to serve under George S. Patton in Africa and Europe. My paternal grandmother had a college degree and had a job working as a medical technologist. My maternal grandmother did not work.
My husband's grandfathers did not serve in the military, but both of his grandmothers worked at least part-time outside the home. His maternal grandmother worked part time as a bookkeeper while his paternal grandmother worked full time as a teacher.
Market forces more than anything drove women into the workforce during World War II. Many young men were leaving the factories, clerical jobs for private corporations, and government bureaucracy for the military. This left a labor gap that was filled by women and other minorities. Yes, the federal government started the Rosie the Riveter campaign to convince women to enter the workforce, but women would have entered the workforce anyway. The nation was still recovering from the Great Depression, and with the United States' entrance into the war, now it was acceptable for women to go into the workforce since many of the men were now overseas fighting against the tyranny of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
Women also began to join the military as well. They were not involved in combat operations though. Even today women are not accepted in regular combat units. Women who served in the WAACs (army) and WAVEs (navy) worked in a clerical capacity. Again, these are market forces at work. Men moved into a combat role once hostilities began which left a demand for workers in the clerical area of the military. These positions were filled by women.
On the home front women did move into industrial jobs. Again the law of supply and demand influenced this move more than government's encouragement of the move. Due to the drop in male labor here in the States, women and minorities naturally filled those vacated positions. Women and minorities also began to join labor unions in higher numbers than before.
The progressive writers of modern history textbooks would have us believe that the government played a huge role in drawing women out of their homes and into the workplace during World War II. However, the market forces of supply and demand were what drove women into jobs. As is evidenced by my husband's and my grandparents, a majority (three out of four) had jobs working at least part-time outside the home. Women in the workplace became more acceptable mainly because many men joined the military and left a void in the labor force here in the United States.
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