Topic 3 - Society and Culture in Change (WOMEN)

Question 1

what was life like for women before the FWW

Answer 1

• disenfranchised (unable to vote) before FWW

Question 2

what was life like for women during the FWW

Answer 2

• enabled women to work
• though work paid less and expected to give up jobs for men when they returned and they didn’t have the same respect that men had in the workplace
• they were simply stand-ins

Question 3

what was the 19th amendment

Answer 3

• August 1920
• women given the vote
• but many poorer women didn’t vote
• or voted under their husband’s influence
• very few black women voted
• it did seem to usher in the new decade and era in which a new breed of liberated and modern women became one of the most celebrated icons of all time

Question 4

what was Wilson’s attitude towards the rights of women

Answer 4

• he said “this is the time to support Women Suffrage”

- Americans divided about the issue

Question 5

what did the female suffragettes do in 1917

Answer 5

• parade in NYC in 1917 carrying placards with signatures of more than a million women

Question 6

discuss employment discrimination in 1917

Answer 6

• less likely to get a job than a man
• more likely to be made redundant in a time of crisis
• passed over for promotions in favour of men
• glass ceiling - can’t reach top jobs
• seen as unreliable and less committed then men
• given no credit for intelligence and ideas
• not given jobs as may get pregnant and quit

Question 7

what was life like for women after the FWW

Answer 7

• in the period of ‘normalcy’ society expected women to resume their pre-war traditional roles as housewives and women
• there were new jobs available for women though like typists and shop assistants

Question 8

what was created for women in 1920

Answer 8

• A Women’s Bureau of Labor was created in 1920
• as the number of females employed rose from 7.6 mil to 13 mil (9.8% of the population)
• works to create parity for women in the labor force
• its a government department
• yet women with same jobs as men were paid less and hired on ‘last hired first fired’ principle

Question 9

what was the Gibson Girls

Answer 9

• at turn of century
• personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness
• illustrations by artist Charles Gibson
• a new women who instantly challenged and changed the standard feminine image
• these free spirited, fierce women were emboldened by the suffragists who broke apart the traditional female roles
• by the outbreak of the FWW changing fashions caused the Gibson Girl to fall out of fashion as women moved with the times

Question 10

what had progressive politics introduced at the turn of the century

Answer 10

• had introduced new divorce laws and jobs were been taken by women who no longer considered their home as the only working place
• these “New Women” especially the younger ones were forging an identity that represented an authentic milestone in women’s history

Question 11

who were the Flappers of the roaring 20s

Answer 11

• wore revealing clothes for the time yet had androgynous looks (partly male partly female in appearance) in order to compete with men in society
• ‘de-sexing’ of women
• young women of the flappers made the most of their freshly-gained independence
• worked
• some attended male sports even without a male escort
• often stereotyped as being flippant, unintelligent and reckless
• abandoned traditional Victorian era values of their parents and grandparents

Question 12

what was the impact of the Flappers

Answer 12

• shocking

- shifted public perception of women, even though most later resumed traditional roles

Question 13

what was the impact of the Great Depression on women

Answer 13

• affected people across class rather than gender
• but many women ended up as the sole bread winner in the family as unemployment gripped America
• women with families suffered great hardships in raising children in very difficult economic circumstances
• when it began the optimistic momentum of the various women’s movements evaporated as the nation focused on putting its men to work
• focus on economy not women

Question 14

how did FDR and his New Deal aid women

Answer 14

• New Deal did provide aid for families with dependent children
• but as a rule men were deemed the priority in New Deal policies
• Although there were no alphabet agencies created for women some 36 camps were provided for unemployed women
• he did create the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935
• he also appointed Frances Perkins

Question 15

what was the Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Answer 15

• encouraged women back to work
• created by FDR
• May 6th 1935
• by an exec order
• an ambitious employment/infrastructure programme
• put roughly 8.5 million Americans back to work
• at its height in 1938 more than 3.3 mil Americans worked directly for the WPA

Question 16

what was the impact of FDR’s Works Progress Administration specifically for women

Answer 16

• the WPA put women to work in clerical jobs, gardening, canning and as librarians and seamstresses
• women engaged in sewing projects made up about seven percent of the national WPA workforce

Question 17

who was Fannie Peck

Answer 17

• founded the National Housewives’ League of Detroit on June 10th 1930 (under Hoover)
• 50 members
• to advance the economic status of AA
• became a national organisation that campaigned for the rights of AA housewives
• motto - ‘stabilize the economic status of the Negro through directed spending’

Question 18

how did the increase of electrical goods following the SWW impact women

Answer 18

• electrical goods like refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, toasters, irons etc led to a revolution in the household
• time saving gadgets allowed women to both work and keep house
• these items empowered women as well as restricting them

Question 19

who was Frances Perkins

Answer 19

• the first female Cabinet member as FDR’s Secretary for Labor for his entire term
• the conscience of the New Deal era
• also a member of the US Civil Commission at the request of President Truman
• 1910 headed the New York Consumers League fighting for better hours and workplace conditions
• she was largely responsible for the US instituting social security, a minimum wage, unemployment benefits, a 40 hours work week and regulation of child labor

Question 20

what was the 1936 Rural Electrification Act

Answer 20

• Under FDR

- Gave many poor families access to electricity

Question 21

when was the progressive era

Answer 21

• 1900-1920
• brought women out of the house and onto the national stage
• seeds of women’s liberation were planted and watered through the New Deal to be harvested after the war and beyond

Question 22

what was the 1940 Selective Training and Service Act

Answer 22

• under FDR
• even before USA entered SWW, it prepared to draft men to military and train women to fill their jobs including ship building and aircraft assembly

Question 23

why did so few women work in 1940 and how did FDR combat this

Answer 23

• only 16% of married women worked due to childcare problems
• 1941 Lanham Act where he extended childcare provision
• 1944 there were 130,000 kids in day care

Question 24

in 1943 how many women worked in agriculture

Answer 24

3 million

Question 25

what did the SWW war mean specifically for black women

Answer 25

• due to work shortages as men were fighting black women could be trained for jobs not previously open to them
• though they still had to come with discrimination and segregation

Question 26

how many women worked in munitions factories during the SWW

Answer 26

6 million

Question 27

statistics of women working in SWW

Answer 27

• 350,000 served in US armed forces at Home and Abroad
• 200,000 joined the Women’s Army Corps
• between 1940-45 women in employment increased from 27% to 37%
• by 1945 nearly 1/4 married women worked outside the home

Question 28

what were post second world war attitudes to women at work like

Answer 28

• female employment rose again after the war especially for married women between 45-54
• war had much to do with this
• made female work more accepted
• altered attitudes of husband - 1936 82% thought married women shouldn’t work - 1942 only 13%!!
• female appetite for work strong - many who had worked during the war wished to continue

Question 29

how did the end of the SWW also lead to return of traditional roles

Answer 29

• it was strongly encouraged by the media

- retail advertising was most influential in restoring gender inequality in the home

Question 30

what was the ideal american women in 1956 as described by life magazine

Answer 30

• under Ike
• pretty, popular, good wife, mother, hostess, make own clothes, married at 16, works with school PTA, does food shopping, cooks, planning to study French
• main accomplishment having children
• drives them to school

Question 31

discuss womens wages between 1950-60

Answer 31

• under Truman and Ike
• by 1950 women only earned 53% of what men did
• much of the equality gained in the war gave way to more traditional roles for men and women
• ‘a women’s place in the home’
• but more women did work
• 1960 - some 40% of women in stereotypical low income ‘womens jobs’ like offices and retail

Question 32

what were the suburbs

Answer 32

• post-war construction boom
• offered middle class/wealthy white americans the lure of house ownership
• affordable - commuting distance from city
• had own schools, cinemas, sport complexes, shops
• by 1960 19 mil more lived there than in 1950

Question 33

what was the impact of the suburbs on women

Answer 33

• encouraged social networks for housewives
• created a subset of women with far too much time on their hands
• the 1950s stereotypical female

Question 34

give the main events of the female movement in 1960-70

Answer 34

UNDER JFK

• 1961 called for a Commission of Enquiry into the Status of women
• 1963 equal pay act

UNDER LBJ

• 1964 CR act
• 1966 Formation of the National Organisation for Women (NOW)
• 1969 Formation of the National Associatio for the Repeal of Abortion laws
• 1969 Women’s Equity Action League formed

UNDER NIXON

• 1970 some states allowed abortion
• 1972 Supreme Court ruling to permit access to contraception for unmarried women
• ERA added to Constitution but never ratified
• 1973 Abortion federally legalised

Question 35

what did JFK’s 1961 enquiry into the status of women report about the 1963 Equal Pay Act

Answer 35

• that while the act was great it was going to be difficult to enforce for a number of reasons:
• women still discriminated against in employment training, promotion and access to work
• inadequate day care facilities
• hotel/domestic work not included in minimum pay rates
• girls not encouraged to think about careers
• not enough school employment counsellors
• act still had an impact in passing CRA of 1964 tho

Question 36

what was the National Organisation for Women (NOW)

Answer 36

• created 1966
• Betty Friedan and other women founded
• sixfold agenda
• equal rights in the constitution
• law banning sex discrimination in workplace
• maternity leave rights
• child day care centres
• equal education
• the right of women to control reproductive rights
• aimed to work within the political system to attain equality for women and stronger enforcement of the CRA and equal pay act

Question 37

discuss conservative opposition to women liberation groups

Answer 37

• Phyllis Schlafly created the STOP ERA 1972
• under Nixon
• campaign to protest ERA of 1972
• created the Eagle Forum to support family values and campaign against equal rights and abortion
• believed women designed to have babies so should not be in equal employment
• couldn’t see their daughters joining the US army
• worried women would lose tax and benefit privileges because of equal rights

Question 38

discuss the don’t iron while the strike is hot

Answer 38

• 1970
• slogan used for march by radicals on the 50th anniversary of women obtaining the vote
• gained massive publicity
• NOW rose from 1000 members in 1967 to 40,000 in 1974
• prolonged period after the EPA and CRA showing how ineffective they really were
• the movement took a long time to gain momentum enough to have significant impact and outreach

Question 39

what is interesting about the Equal Pay Act 1963

Answer 39

• despite been passed as an amendment to the constitution in 1972 it was never fully ratified and still is not ratified