Reaction to the Modern Women's Movement, 1963 to the Present

Angela Howard-Zophy, Sasha Ranae Adams Tarrant, Angela Howard, Sasha Ranae Adams Tarrant, Angela Howard, Sasha Ranae Adams Tarrant

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781136764196
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Discrimination & Race Relations
• Index: Social Sciences

Antifeminism in cultural context To give today's readers an understanding of the social and political forces that actively fought against any changes in women's status in the United States, the editors selected these original examples from the writings of the time that appeared in popular books and magazines. Opponents of women's equality frequently voiced their opinions about 19th-century issues of women's suffrage, dress reform, self-expression, independence, and other topics that touched upon the perceived roles and duties of women. Such public diatribes continued into the 10th century as determined antifeminists argued against increased opportunities for women in employment and education, denied the propriety of family planning, and admonished against women's involvement in politics. Arguments based on ridicule, natural law, and false claims Some opponents merely dismissed or ridiculed calls for changes in women's status, without specifying particular flaws in the feminist position. Others cited divine ordination, applied to natural law, and fanned public fears of familial and social disintegration. Frequently these critics resorted to charges of presumed lesbianism, communism, and socialism against advocates of women's rights and against the movement itself. This adamant opposition to equality for women was a manifestation of common apprehension about ongoing social, economic, and political changes beyond antifeminist control. Antifeminists in their own words Today few people have even an inkling of the vehemence, theatrical posturing, and convoluted reasoning of the antifeminist forces. This varied selection of original sources puts an illuminating spotlight on the arguments presented by opponents of women's equality that is drawn from an extensive body of writings, ranging from the elegant pronouncements of a popular politician to sincere endorsements of the status quo by female apologists for those opposed to the women's movement, to purveyors of low satire in the popular press. For modern readers, this collection provides the opportunity to encounter directly the reasoning, opinions, and perceptions of those that resisted and criticized the goals and achievements of feminism. A valuable resource for many disciplines. A particularly valuable feature of this set is its wealth of primary source material from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including material from books and newspapers. Very few libraries have collected these sources and chances are no single collection has them all. These volumes are of great interest to women's studies, women's history, gender studies, cultural studies, as well as history, political science, sociology, and literature. Many of the examples of antifeminist writing found in the set can enrich classroom discussions and assignments that involve communication, writing, and rhetoric. Available individually by volume 1. Opposition to the Women's Movement in the United States, 1848-1929 (0-8153-2713-7) 400 pages 2. Redefining the New Woman, 1920-1963 (0-8153-2714-5) 344 pages 3. Reaction to the Modern Women's Movement, 1963 to the Present (0-8153-2715-3) 352 pages

The Economics of Middle-Income Family Life: Working Women During the Great Depression

WINIFRED D. WANDERSEE BOLIN

THE history of women and work is becoming an increasingly fertile field of research for historians, and the interest in this topic has generated a great deal of valuable scholarship. If there is one theme that emerges, it is that women's work outside of the home has been an extension of their family role and a reflection of their economic need. From the historian's point of view, the "pin-money theory" is dead.¹ Long before the depression of the 1930s, married women left their homes to work in the factories and fields, in the homes of other women, and, increasingly during the twentieth century, in clerical and service occupations. In the decade between 1930 and 1940, the number of married women in the labor force increased by nearly 50 percent, while their numbers in the population increased by only 15 percent. By 1940 married women were 35 percent of the female labor force, in comparison to 29 percent in 1930 (see Table 1).

Thus, in spite of the oversupply of labor and the underemployment of the population as a whole, married women workers made substantial numerical gains during the depression decade. It would be a mistake to suggest that the 1930s represented a new direction; rather, the labor force behavior of these years was a continuation of long-term trends that had been developing since the turn of the century. In fact, the gains of

TABLE 1 Number and Proportion of Women 15 Years Old and Over, Gainfully Occupied, by Marital Condition, for the United States, 1890-1940

Census Year and Marital Status	Total Number*	Gainfully Occupied		% Distr. of Gainfully Occupied
		Number*	Percent
1890
Females 15 and over	19.6	3.7	18.9	100.0
Single and unknown	6.3	2.5	40.5	68.2
Married	11.1	0.5	4.6	13.9
Widowed and divorced	2.2	0.7	29.9	17.9
1900
Females 15 and over	24.2	5.0	20.6	100.0
Single and unknown	7.6	3.3	43.5	66.2
Married	13.8	0.8	5.6	15.4
Widowed and divorced	2.8	0.9	32.5	18.4
1910
Females 15 and over	30.0	7.6	25.4	100.0
Single and unknown	9.0	4.6	51.1	60.2
Married	17.7	1.9	10.7	24.7
Widowed and divorced	3.4	1.2	34.1	15.0
1920
Females 15 and over	35.2	8.3	23.7	100.0
Single, widowed, divorced and unknown	13.9	6.4	46.4	77.0
Married	21.3	1.9	9.0	23.0
1930
Females 15 and over	42.8	10.6	24.8	100.0
Single and unknown	11.4	5.7	50.5	53.9
Married	26.2	3.1	11.7	28.9
Widowed and divorced	5.3	1.8	24.4	17.2
1940
Females 14 and over**	50.5	12.8	25.3	100.0
Single	13 9	6 3	45.0	49.4
Married	30.1	4.6	15.3	35.5
Husband present	28.5	3.8	13.3	29.6
Husband absent	1.6	0.8	46.9	5.9
Widowed and divorced	6.5	1.9	29.2	15.1

* Numbers in millions.

** 1940 age category differs from other census years.

Source: 16th Census of the United States, 1940. Population. Vol. Ill: The Labor Force: Industry, Employment, and Income. Part I: United States Summary (Washington, 1943), Table 9, p. 26; 15th Census of the United States. 1930, Population. Vol. V: General Report on Occupations (Washington, 1933), Table I, 272; and Gertrude Bancroft, The American Labor Force: Its Growth and Changing Composition (New York, 1958), Table 25, p. 45.

the 1930s were not nearly as dramatic as those of two earlier decades— 1900 to 1910 and 1920 to 1930. What is significant is that they were made at a time of economic stagnation—at a time when women were under a great deal of public pressure to leave the labor market in order to avoid competing with men for the short supply of jobs.

The majority of married women workers during these years were working because of economic necessity. The investigations conducted by the Women's Bureau were devoted to proving that point, and even a cursory glance at the census data on the female labor force would support the bureau's interpretation. For instance, in 1930, about 3.9 million women combined the roles of homemaker and wage earner;

TABLE 2 Family Income Distribution, 1929

Income Level (in dollars)	No. of Families (in thousands)	P...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series Introduction
• Volume Introduction
• Has It Made Any Difference?
• The Employment of Wives, Dominance, and Fertility
• Sex Unwanted
• The Abortion Debate
• Excerpts from Sexual Suicide
• Excerpts from The Total Woman
• Lord, Teach Me to Submit
• Excerpts from The Power of the Positive Woman
• The Economics of Middle-Income Family Life: Working Women During the Great Depression
• Hobbesian Choice: Feminists Against the Family
• The Feminist Movement
• The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Feminism
• Who Is the New Traditional Woman?
• The Feminist Mistake: Sexual Equality and the Decline of the American Military
• Working Women: How It's Working Out
• The International Patriarchy
• Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Woman?
• Women Working and Divorce: Cause or Effect?
• The Perceived Control of Well-Educated Women: 1972-1984
• Antisociality and Dangerousness in Women Before and After the Women's Movement
• Feminism and Modern Friendship: Dislocating the Community
• Pages from a Gender Diary: Basic Divisions in Feminism
• Against Feminist Fundamentalism
• The Failure of Feminism
• Wrong on Rape: Neither Naming Rape Victims Against Their Will, Nor Broadening the Definition of Rape to Include Seduction, Helps the Cause of Feminism
• Perplexed by Sex?
• Feminism and Anorectic Tendencies in College Women
• Love and Trouble
• From Separate Spheres to Dangerous Streets: Postmodernist Feminism and the Problem of Order
• Cultural Assault: What Feminists Are Doing to Rape Ought to Be A Crime
• Why I Am Not a Feminist: Some Remarks on the Problem of Gender Identity in the United States and Poland
• A "Progressive" Movement Holding Sexuality Hostage
• Acknowledgments