The change from the roaring 20's to the 1930's was very difficult for the whole nation. The Great Depression and World War II brought great political, social, and economic changes to America. The age of carefree flappers and drinkers came to an end as the US sought to repair itself and prepare for war. Women played a great role in this change, which also led for them to be viewed differently in society. We will be focusing on White and African American women. Great Depression The roaring 20's were a period of economic growth and transition after the war. Wages for most workers increased, while stock prices went up as well. This all came to an end after the great market crash in late 1929, and more than 3 million people lost their jobs, leaving many families suffering. While most men lost their jobs, women, who were teachers, nurses, and domestic workers, didn't have a hard time finding or keeping their jobs, for the most part. This is because these jobs were still necessary and important to keep society healthy and functioning. Although women were payed significantly less compared to men, women wages were necessary to family survival. More than 10 million women throughout the nation had jobs outside the home. This caused issues with men, because they now viewed women as stealing their jobs. There was a great amount of unemployed men who argued against all of these women having jobs while they just sat at home jobless. This impacted Roosevelt's decision to make a formal policy, as a part of the New Deal, against hiring women. Eleanor Roosevelt tried protesting against this, but she failed. Many New Deal job programs cast women in traditional housekeeping roles. There were also camps operated by the Federal Emergency Relief Association (FERA) that taught young women household schools. They also made goods such as canned foods, mattresses, blankets, and clothing for the families in need. Other federal agencies paid women significantly less than men, or hired a man over a woman. These programs were formed to keep women in domestic jobs so that men could have other jobs that women were "taking over." American women had a hard time at home as well, because of the sharp budget cuts due to the national economic crisis. They were still responsible for feeding and clothing the children at home. Women had to develop money saving techniques. They began sewing more clothes at home, rather than buying it from stores. They also canned fruits and vegetables instead of buying fresh food all the time and also started buying the cheapest food products. This led to malnutrition and disease, which increased the amount of poverty for families. Financial insecurity and stress led to many problems in husband-wife relationships. Due to tight budgets, families couldn't spend much money on leisure-time activities, which led to more tension between the couples and less relaxation time (so more anger and stress). Many husbands left their families and many people didn't even get married because they couldn't afford starting a family, which also lead to a decrease in child birth. There was also an increase in larger households where extended family moved in to share housing to reduce their individual costs. World War 2 During the 1940's, the role of women changes dramatically. Because men went off to fight World War 2, women had to take their place at work. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to 37 percent, and by 1945 about 1 out of every 4 married women worked outside of their home. In 1942, organizations like the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES), were established to authorize women to serve in the US Navy. Eleanor Roosevelt and women's rights groups asked for women to be given war positions, and in 1942, after seeing the improvement of the British using women in the army, general George Marshall supported the idea of opening a women's branch in the army. Women who served in the Women’s Air-force Service Pilots were later awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, but in 2010. Back at home, women also worked in factories to produce weapons and artillery for the war, and blankets, clothing, and food packages for the soldiers. Women in America also helped rally up support for the war. One example was Rosie the Riveter. She was used in propaganda campaign as a recruitment tool and symbolized working women in America during the war. She stressed the patriotic need for women to participate in the war efforts and join the workforce. Even with the great amount of women workers, women were still payed less then the men who were still home. In the 1950's, the men came back from the war and wanted their jobs back, but women wanted to keep their jobs. Some people worried that because the women weren’t at home, the children were being neglected. Roosevelt then made a New Deal policy that taught women domestic work, encouraging them to stay at home and work, so the men could have jobs back. Women's Rights In the period from 1930-1950 women were more considered as "household" figures. It was thought women would compete with men and take away their ability to run homes. Women who worked saw a huge disparity in the wages as compared to men. In the 1930's more women joined the workforce than men, because employers were willing to hire women at half the wage they would pay to men. During this period women's rights were limited. In public places they were constantly judged by their actions, e.g. women drinking were considered "undignified", women showing affection in public was considered "embarrassing." When it came to voting the 19th Amendment gave the women the right to vote, however it was limited to white women. During the period 1930-1950, Women had to struggle to enter professional sports. In 1943, the United States founded the All- American Girls Professional Baseball League. Off course, this was only open to white women, not African Americans or any other ethnic culture. Women had to fight the barriers of sex discrimination and segregation. In 1948, Alice Coachman became the first African-American women to win an Olympic gold medal for high jumping. This was a big achievement for African Americans. African American Women Great Depression African American women faced great difficulty during the Great Depression, especially finding jobs. Due to the Great Depression, many Americans lost their jobs. Because women had taken over male jobs, males argued against this and policies were formed to return women back to domestic jobs. White women then started working in homes, which most African American women had. This made the number of jobs available to African American women reduce, so they had difficulty finding them. African Americans were already in a poor economic situation, and the Great Depression didn't help. African American women (and men) were the first to be laid off from their work. They had an unemployment rate that was 2-3 times higher than white Americans. African American women had a hard time feeding and clothing their children. They couldn't find work, and if they did, they had to work more because they were paid less per hour. Their families were in greater poverty and on top of that, received less charity compared to white people. Many soup kitchen excluded African American families. World War II In the roaring 20's, African American culture greatly impacted society and American culture. However, during 1930-1950's, America was more whitewashed and African Americans were not portrayed as much in the media. While white women portrayed ideal femininity and home life in media or in propaganda for World War II, African American women were ignored. They weren't included in portraying an American women, which shows that America during this time, still didn't see them as equals. African American women played a great role in helping out with the war effort. President Franklin Roosevelt signed an Executive order that banned racial discrimination in the defense industries and civil service jobs. It wasn't enforced that much, but employers started hiring Africans when the white workers became exhausted. This led to an increase in job opportunities for African American men and women. There was 20% decrease in the number of African American women working domestic jobs during the war time. African American women had it worse in the workplace because they faced racial and gender discrimination. They had to use separate bathrooms and had the lowest paying, but most difficult jobs. Most of the dangerous and over-exhausting jobs were given to African American women, and they were usually given night shifts and cleaning jobs. Some jobs that African American women had were janitors in factories, building weapons for war, and some even became soldiers in the army. Overall, during the 1930-1950's, the role of women in the workforce changed greatly due to the Great Depression, but more during World War 2. Women had to take over jobs while men went abroad to fight in the war. This time period brought social change to women, however not much because the whole country was busy with the war efforts and producing weapons and equipment back home. They were paid less, however it instilled courage in women, and in the nation, that women could do "men" jobs and were capable to stay in the workforce. Compared to the 1920's, the status of African American women (and Africans in general) decreased. During the 20's and Harlem Renaissance their culture was appreciated and very famous. This changed in the 1930-50's when the nations focus changed from partying to economic depression to war efforts. Citation:
Lamphier, P. A. (2017). Women in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection (Vol. 1) (R. Welch, Ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pages 239-358 |
AuthorSimran and Ananya Archives
June 2017
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