Women+in+the+Work+Place


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= = = = =__Women in the Workplace__=
 * By Ali, McKenzie, and Natalie**

Females have been the inferior gender since before the common era. There are references from the Bible punishing females because Eve ate the forbidden fruit before Adam in the garden of Eden, and quotations from European philosophers supporting the idea of women as the second-class race. The origin of this belief is uncertain, but its consequences were relevant throughout our country’s history, and continue to effect today’s society.

American women were introduced to work outside of the home during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. From the beginning, females were paid lower wages than males with equal work. Legally women’s husbands controlled their earnings. Women had little authority concerning their jobs and finances. By 1864, one working female decided to speak out. Irish immigrant, Kate Mullaney formed the first American female union, The Collar Laundry Union. As a result of this union’s strike, women’s wages in Troy, New York’s 14 commercial laundries were raised from between three to four dollars per week, to 14 dollars per week. By the end of the 19th century, women had marked their ground in America’s labor force.

The World Wars in the first half of the 20th century provided another explosion for women into the workforce. They were recruited as nurses, secretaries, and for other occupations working for the United States Army. Women were also drawn into the nation’s factories to produce good to aid the war effort. Unfortunately, when the soldiers returned, the working women were forced back into the home to give their jobs to the men. Throughout the 1950’s it seemed as if women had lost ground in their struggle to equalize the work place.

By the 1960’s the word was out that women were dissatisfied with their roles as homemakers. A book titled, The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan, was published in 1963. This bestseller described women’s unhappiness in the home and their desire to become members of the male-dominated work force. Amendments and acts began being passed to grant women equal pay for equal work, ban discrimination by employers, help to ease the conflict between work and home, and aid working women in other ways. Women had made tremendous progress in their struggle to become part of the American work force.

Today the huge gains that women have made are very obvious. The number of women entering the workforce is increasing much more dramatically than the number of men. However, there is still a gap between the average wages of males and females, and a significant difference in the number males and females with high-profile and high-paying jobs. The glass ceiling is a figurative term symbolizing the barrier that women face in the work force. The glass ceiling prevents women from earning a high-profile job such as a company president or CEO, or a high-paying job such as a doctor or lawyer. Female CEOs claim that “the glass ceiling has certainly been shattered”, but other women who have witnessed struggles in the work force believe that “it’s not a glass ceiling anymore, it’s a cement ceiling.” Many companies are catering to women's needs by providing day care for their employees children, flexible schedules, or other benefits that would be useful to working mothers. In conclusion, women have accomplished a lot regarding the work place, but there is much more to be done before the American labor force is completely balanced between the two genders.


 * History: Time Line (1864-1993)
 * Significant People / Virtual Legacy: Betty Friedan Kate Mullaney Jane Addams
 * Quotes about Women and the Workforce
 * Interesting facts about Women in the Workplace
 * Posters recruiting women to work from World War II
 * The Feminine Mystique - an excerpt, caption, & a picture of the original cover
 * The Equal Pay Act of 1963 - an excerpt & summary
 * CURRENT EVENT - May 29th, 2007: A female employee sues //Goodyear// for being payed smaller wages than male employees doing similar work. Who will the Supreme Court side with?
 * Women in the Work Place Bibliography