Blog #13

1.The Cold War impacted American women in a few ways. First, it pushed women to stay at home and perform their motherly duties, housework and raising the children. This was due to the spreading promiscuity of women which included premarital sex and homosexual experimentation. It seems as though women took a step back in their quest for equality, because their experiments with their freedoms were looked down upon. Also, women became a much larger market for advertising firms, with women being the household keepers all household products were made to appeal to women.

2.Historians needed to rethink and revise Betty Friedan’s interpretation of the “feminine mystique” because they felt that Friedan had overlooked certain variables that would have definitely swayed the results of her research. According to the text, historians thought that Friedan overlooked the differences among class, race, and ethnicity as well as “neglecting the increasing number of women entering the workforce.” Their main argument however, was against Friedman herself. They claimed that she, “was not the simple housewife and unwitting victim of domestic confinement that she claimed to be.” Her involvement in radical politics and journalism career was proof of that.

3.In the 1950s most activist women were either part of the working class or were African American. The working force activists faced a lot of employment issues. One thing that contributed to their difficulties was the return of the men from war, who came back and tapped in to the work force. Not to mention the already established pressure on the women to return to the homes in order for them to tend to their household duties. African American women not only had to struggle with all of the same problems, but also they were fighting for the working rights that white women already had.

4.The concept of a “bridge” leader is helpful in understanding women in the civil rights movement because a bridge leader was not necessarily the leader of an organization but more of a spokesperson for a way of thinking or an effort to reach a common goal. These bridge leaders commanded a great deal of influence to steer things into the direction to achieve their goals.

Blog #12

1.World War II challenged and reinforced gender stereotypes for women in quite a few ways. During World War II the Women’s Army Corps attracted many female recruits to join the war effort. Some of the jobs that broke the gender barrier for women were mechanics and welders. Jobs that reinforced the female stereotype were the more monotonous jobs such as clerks and telephone operators. Women also gave a great helping hand to the war effort with their nursing duties.

2.Among the longest lasting results of WWII for women and their families was a new found sense of independence for women stemming from the high percentage of females belonging to the labor force. Even after the post-war layoffs, women would go on to hold a large part in the labor force and increase their confidence and independence simultaneously. Also, birth rates continued to rise during this time since a higher household income allowed for the support of more and more children.

1.In no way were women’s work opportunities limited due to their gender. Women had the exact same chances at pay and positions as the men did at the factory. However, this would come at the price at being treated just like the men. Being treated like a man meant working graveyard shifts, sometimes double shifts, and even working during important holiday vacation times.

2.It seems to be impossible to say that this article is geared towards either men or women, or any particular set of individuals. So I must have to say it presents itself to the overall public. It shows women what they will be facing in the labor force and the inevitable fact of layoffs when the war is over. However, it also gives men a sense of security knowing that their jobs will be there for them when they get back home and that their women will be back running the household.

3.To summarize the women’s attitude towards their work in one word, I would have to say respectful. They understood that it needed to be done, and they stepped up to the plate and gave it their best shot. They knew it was something they were doing for their country, for their families and friends, and for themselves. They bear with the hard work, the manual labor, grueling schedules just as men would when asked of them. Their patriotism showed greatly in their effort for their country.

4.The article suggests that the women retain a portion of their femininity even while working in the factory by still doing household chores such as cooking for themselves and/or one another. Some were even said to be wearing bright nail polish and ignoring the fact that their hands are sore. The article does not put a great emphasis on women displaying their femininity, but it shows the reader that women are going to have their own style no matter what kind of environment they are placed into.

5.When the war ends the women understand and sort of embrace the notion that everything will go back to how it was, meaning that the men would come back home and take their jobs back. Some will go on to get married and start families and get back to their household chores while others will advance in their current field of work.

Blog #11

1.It certainly was appropriate to speak about a “New Woman” in the 1920s. It was so, because of several contributing factors to women’s newfound liberation. In 1920 the long awaited 19^th Amendment was ratified and granted women the right to vote. Their new image was also supported by “participation in the workforce, and by experiments with a new sexual morality.”(482) Women were now more involved in politics than ever, more women worked than ever before even after the war, and most important of all women now became party animals. A female sexual revolution took place and gave way to the young girls in skimpy clothes and a need for dancing and drinking also known as the flappers.

2.Women who were active in politics in the 1920s encountered much difficulty in accomplishing their agenda in part due to the success of the suffrage movement. Now that all women had their voting rights they no longer had one big common goal to unite under. Women now divided themselves by class, race, age, ideology and so forth. This split the great political force women once had into smaller and more distinct groups, their power in numbers was now gone.

3.The Great Depression was a terrible time not only for the nation as a whole, but for all of the individuals as well. In the picture on Page 499 a woman is seen in a tent with her two children, the woman seems to be looking off into the distance as if in deep thought. It would not be farfetched to say that she was completely miserable, trying to raise two children during one of the harshest times in American history. Money was incredibly hard to come by, so the mother had to sell off anything of worth to someone just to keep herself and her children alive. Eating frozen vegetables and dead birds shows clearly the despair of the people during that time.

4.The Great Depression was a “heavily gendered experience” because for many years men were the dominant money earners in the family, despite the rising number of women in the workforce. Many men lost their jobs and in turn their “dominant position in the household.”(500) The high rate of unemployment took a large toll on the person lives of many, marriages were strained, fertility rates dropped, and desertion rates rose. It wouldn’t be too out of place to say that men really did get the worst of it, they saw their traditional duties completely erased in the matter of years.

Blog #10

1.African American women approached the issues of reform and suffrage by forming their own suffrage movement groups in their own communities. White female suffragists, although overcoming class conflict, still would not allow for African American women to join their cause. The Jim Crow laws made it harder for African American women to organize their own reform movement, however, ultimately those laws would become fuel for their fire and push them to success. African American women were competing not only for voting rights but also for natural rights that many of the White women already had.

2.The suffrage movement and the feminist movement were different in quite a few ways. First off the idea of feminism is a lot more vague and general than that of suffrage. It may be so because feminism deals more with a woman’s private life than her public function. The suffrage movement is a strictly political business since it deals with a woman’s right to vote, whereas the feminist movement is more of a social and cultural issue which borders on taboo. This is because it challenged old ideals and traditions and tried to swing the evolution of culture into a different direction.

3.“Talks on Feminism Stirs Great Crowd” offers a variety of definitions for the term feminism. One definition given is that, “…feminism is an educational ideal.”(461) Another view offered by Max Eastman was that, “Feminism is the name for the newly discovered and highly surprising fact that it is just as important for a woman to be happy as a man.”(461) George Creel said, “Feminism is simply part of the great world fight for freedom and justice and equality, and might better be called humanism.”

4.Women’s economic independence plays an important role in feminist thought. When a woman has economic independence it basically means she has gained more freedom. Freedom from a marriage and in turn the man who supported her, freedom to do as she pleases with her own money, freedom to be with whoever she deems fit. Overall economic independence in general is not only freedom but a higher quality of life, because a person can finally do whatever it is they want to do without answering to a higher power.

5.Since I am a man, a rather open-minded and reasonable one might I add, I feel that my view on feminism might be ultimately skewed to fit what I understand about women since they are in fact rather complicated creatures in my eyes. First off, I feel that the concept of feminism may have changed from the time period in which it was conceived up until the present. To me feminism is an ideal which strives to rid people of gender bias, to show that women are equal to men in all aspects, and that people need to learn, understand, and keep a strong sense of justice and morals.

Blog #9

1.Women shared some experiences of immigration with men and had some of their own unique experiences as well. Many women fled to the U.S. to escape arranged marriages, others came to the U.S. to get married. However, in general everybody left their homeland behind due to “poverty, limited opportunity, and rigid class structures.”(353) Everyone wanted to experience the supposed land where anyone can become rich, although jobs were plentiful in the U.S. accumulating wealth was not an easy task. A lot of women were also attracted by the growing independence of women in the U.S. which allowed them more freedoms than their homeland.

2.Women that got involved with the industrial protest, populist movement, and the settlement house movement did so for different reasons but to achieve one similar goal. All women were just trying to achieve equality and better life for themselves and everyone else. The women involved in the industrial protest fought for better working conditions and higher wages. Non elite white and black female farmers from the South were involved in the populist movement, due to the massive debt crisis in the South. Women involved with the settlement house movement were usually in the upper-class and they helped immigrants settle in to their new found life.

Blog #8

George Blog#8

1.Some of the most significant developments in women’s wage labor in the late 19^th century were industrialization and the admission of women into labor unions. Industrialization paved the way for large openings in factory jobs and a steady decline in agricultural and domestic work. Women were much more inclined to take jobs in a factory than do what they’ve been doing for years. Women were also now in the labor unions for their industrial jobs. Women were later encouraged to form their own organizations for all working class women so they could speak on behalf of the female wage laborers.

2.The images on page 345 show a before and after view of 3 Native American girls. In the first picture the girls sat on the floor covered in blankets and had their hair braided. In the second picture they are shown sitting on chairs in traditional American working class garb. One thing that does not change in these pictures is their sad faces. These pictures work perfectly at explaining the feelings of Native American women during the era of western consolidation. You can see in their faces the reluctance to change their ways and take on a new way of life, moreover someone else’s way of life.

1. Bessie Van Vorst meets a variety of women at the factory. The first woman she describes meeting is the head forewoman. She is older than the rest of the workers there and has evidently been drained by her daily tasks at the factory, however offers much wisdom and truth to Van Vorst about working at a factory. The next woman she meets is a pretty, young girl who has been working at the factory for five months and only works to make money to spend on herself.

2.Van Vorst believed that the women at factories thought they didn’t have large enough numbers to make a threatening enough stand to the factory owners against their working conditions. This is why they passively accepted their fate and danced along to the tune played by the factory owners. They believed they were expendable and if they tried to stand up for themselves they would only lose their jobs.

Blog #7

1. In the years before and during the Civil War women of the North and South were divided mainly by slavery and their views on it. In the South, the wealthy Whites did not want to let go of their slaves, because most of their revenue came due to the cheap labor of slaves. If their slaves were to be freed, they would have no chance of receiving the same income they did previously. In the North, emancipation was seen as the just and moral thing to do, women wanted the black men and women to be freed and become citizens of the U.S. Since women in the North were fighting for their own rights they must have thought it would be just to let slaves have their rights too.

2. The “New South” impacted white and black women in rather peculiar ways. When slaves gained what they always wanted, freedom, they found themselves facing very trying and difficult times. Many slaves tried reuniting with their families, which didn’t always lead to a happy end. Then the introduction of the black codes by the southern states, which limited the rights of freed slaves, gave the slaves an even harder time. Most freed slaves continued doing the work they’ve been doing for years because they didn’t know what else to do. Some, however, did go on to educate themselves and prosper under their new found freedom. White women on the other hand endured the defeat of their Confederacy and along with defeat came poverty. The emancipation of slaves had forced elite white women to start working for themselves. The non-elite whites felt the collapse of the economy even worse and were reduced to almost slave like conditions.

1. The underlying tensions that led to the lynching of Thomas Moss, were basically the frustrations of whites as a result of the emancipation of the slaves. Blacks now posed competition for the whites and so was the case of Thomas Moss. Moss found success in the grocery business and was giving white store owners a run for their money. He was later lynched on the completely false premise of being a sexual predator.

2. Wells was determined to challenge the prevailing opinion about lynching and prove that the reasons and explanations given to justify them were absolutely made up and false. The prevailing opinion was that black men were lynched because they were sexual predators and would sexually assault white women. However, this was often far from the truth. Black men were usually lynched on terms completely unrelated to sexual assault and more along the lines of taking away business from the whites. Also sometimes it was the complete opposite of black men assaulting white women, white men would sexually assault black women and black men would end up being lynched after their retaliation to white men’s crimes.

3. During slavery black women were often forced to have sex and raped by white men since they were considered to be property and nothing else. However, after the slaves were freed legitimate interracial relationships were formed by some. I think that subconsciously the white men who raped black women were doing so out of repressed lust, since it would be completely absurd for them to marry a slave. The accusations of black men raping white women could have been more due to seduction and trickery by white women.