The concept that the creation of a “manly woman” led to the degradation and breakdown of female traditional roles can also be see during can be seen in certain events that occurred prior to 1900. A primary example would the industrialization and craft deskilling that is discussed in Deborah Valenze’s The First Industrial Woman. Valenze pointed out that women were allowed to participate in the public sphere when taking up jobs such as spinning and producing cotton while in the meantime were responsible for all domestic chores. This would also in a way create the image of a “manly woman” as a result that these women took on both masculine and feminine roles. However, unlike the roles that women took on starting from World War I that allowed them new opportunities, women during the Industrial Revolution who took on similar roles were at a disadvantage in obtaining opportunities that appeared to be open for them. These factory jobs had deprived women both the home and the textile industries from a good source of income as a result that many spinners, weavers and other small scale female workers were displaced as the industrial economy was strengthening, making it difficult for them to support their family. In some places, children, alongside with women, were involved in hand manufacturing where they would make clothing and other textiles, and were only paid according to the piece of work they have completed as most of the profits they were earning were being delivered to their bosses. Valenze states that even though it would appear that working in a factory setting would provide these benefits, women will still be assigned tasks where they will earn wages below their economic value. She also points out in the book that due to these actions, poverty, urbanization and perception of over population that is associated with women, especially of working women, was rapidly increasing. This all indicates that female labor was heavily devalued along with the foreclosure of women who are seeking good paying jobs, whereas during World War I, female labor was heavily depended upon in order to survive through the tough times and therefore more valued.
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Hi, Why? It seems quite well-written as it is. Clive
— Clive
Hi, Why?
It seems quite well-written as it is.
Clive
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