Feminism in the 1930's essay.

Few people ever hear much about feminism and women’s rights between the 1920’s, when the 19th amendment was passed, and the 1960’s and 70’s, a time of great improvement in equality for all. Many people are under the impression that women’s rights were non-existent in the time in between these decades of advancement, that feminism went back to a blank slate at the time, and that women experienced a proverbial “Dark Age” in the evolution of female rights. Really, those three decades between were not void of women’s liberation. Feminism in the 1930’s, although underdeveloped and minor in popularity and awareness, is arguably one of the greatest things to happen in US history and influenced and paved the way for much more civil rights activism.

Although many people think of the 1930’s as a time when women worked in the home, cooking and cleaning, there were some females who either chose or were forced to work. At the time of the 1930 census, 11 million women were employed- a mere 24.3%. Of that small amount, 30% worked in domestic labor or personal service (maid, cook, etc.). Otherwise women were expected to be teachers or nurses- 75% of working women not laboring in domestic or service jobs were. Women made up only 7% of workers in the auto industry, and 25% in the electrical business in the 1930’s. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr) Females did, however, enter the workforce at twice the rate of males. This happy fact is belied by the true reason for this rate- women worked in conditions men would not dream of, and did it for less pay. In the 1940’s, 13 million women- now a small 25.4%- were employed. 30% of women worked in sale or clerical work at this time, 20% worked in various factories, 20% worked in domestic work and personal service, 10% would be a teacher or nurse, and another 10% were service workers. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr)

One example of a group promoting feminism and equal pay for women was the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. The ILGWU had over 20,000 members in the 1930’s. They, among other things, enabled Harlem press workers to get wages of $45-$50 a week- a very high salary for the time. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr) For most female laborers, work was hard, pay was low, hours were long, and conditions were poor. Over half of all employed females worked for over 50 hours a week, and more than one fifth labored for over 55 hours per week. According to the SSA, average yearly pay for a women worker in 1937 was around $1525. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr) This amount was hardly enough for a woman to support her family or pay for basic necessities.

Added to the poor conditions, women were not encouraged to work at all in the 1930’s. Believed to be taking jobs away from American men, women were told to stay in the home. This idea can be compared to that of not allowing illegal immigrants to work in American businesses. They worked for less, forcing pay averages down and making them more desirable as employees, and also did jobs few others would do. Single, female women faced much social criticism, but it was nothing compared to the hostility faced by married women in the workforce. In a poll conducted by the Fortune magazine and published in 1936, only 15% of the population approved of women having fulltime jobs outside of the home. 48% disapproved heartily, and 37% had no particular opinion. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr) The opponents off female employees had three main arguments for their case- the women were taking jobs away from able bodied men in a huge economic depression (when work was low and unemployment was high), a women’s place was, traditionally, in the home, and that children needed a parent (preferably a mother) in the home to care for them full time. Private companies and the US government laid off huge quantities of married and single women. The government even created codes that eventually prevented women from working in government jobs- Section 213 of the Federal Economy Act stated that only one member of a family could work in a government job. This position generally went to the male and head of the family, not the mother. Many women even lost jobs that had, traditionally, been theirs, such as the position of teacher or librarian. In 1930, 81% of teachers were female, but that figure had dropped to 76% by 1940. The 91% of female librarians in 1930 also dropped to 86% in 1940. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr)

Not all was failure for female rights in the 1930’s, however! The Depression and the huge lack of funds and money for daily life forced women to work to support their families, especially when their husbands were unemployed or their husbands didn’t make enough money to support a large family. The percent of female workers rose from 11.7% in 1930 to 15.2% in 1940. (http://tinyurl.com/3583smr) There were also more political gains- many of the social welfare workers in the New Deal programs were female, and there were many more women in positions of government power than had been before. Many of these women were appointed and elected in the Roosevelt administration. Women often had difficulty getting New Deal relief, however. The National Recovery Administration did help women get higher pay, lower hours, and more females in the work force, but it didn’t do anything for the many women who had recently become unemployed and had lost their jobs. Also, the New Deal projects didn’t provide many jobs for women, either. The Civil Works Administration wouldn’t allow women to work in their many construction projects, classifying the jobs as “unsuitable for women.” The Works Progress Administration did provide numerous jobs for women such as repairing old clothes, but, there were several major problems with these. First of all, these jobs were hard to get and only the head of the household was able to get the job. This meant that many women could not apply for them, since their husbands -although most likely unemployed- were still the heads of the family.

The Roosevelt Administration and Eleanor Roosevelt in particular, helped the women’s rights campaign immensely. Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wrote many essays and speeches regarding women’s rights and various other issues. One such essay was called “What Ten Million Women Want,” and was published in The Home Magazine in 1932. In the essay, she tells readers how there could be ten million answers to the question “What do ten million women want?” Women, like men, and like any other human being, all have their own dreams, thoughts, and desires. Women are capable of almost anything, but lack the self-confidence to be in a public role, she says. Women politicians and females in public roles help encourage or break down this lack of confidence- failures support the idea that all women are failures, but every success improves their self-assurance. Women would be great at understanding politics, Ms. Roosevelt states in her essay, because government is basically just housekeeping, and women are good at that. It involves money and budgets, something most woman are good with, and all finance matters are really just household business on a larger scale, Eleanor writes. As far as good examples of women in the Roosevelt administration and in positions of power, there are plenty, and most strongly encouraged more freedoms for those of their gender. Judge Florence Allen, secretary of labor Frances Perkins, head of the Women’s and Professional Projects for the WPA Ellen Sullivan Woodward, assistant secretary of the treasury Josephine Roche, and Lucille Forster McMillen, the civil service commissioner were all great examples of females in power. There were also some of the first female cabinet members, directors of the mint, ambassadors, and judges. Molly Dewson, a politician at the time, said that “The change from women’s status in government before Roosevelt is unbelievable.”

Despite these many political advances, there were still little definite social and economic advancements. Feminists at the time were divided and undecided on what and how to do to improve their rights. Some believed that legislative power was all that they needed, and that now that women had the right to vote, they needed nothing else. The League of Women Voters agreed with this idea, and felt that there was hardly any discrimination any more at all. Instead, the LWV thought that women should switch to other issues and stay in the traditional role of caring, helpful mother, and leave the issues of female equality behind. Many others disagreed that voting was the only issue about equality women should be concerned about. Women, although they now had the right to vote, weren’t really using it or contributing much to politics as a group. Women did not vote often, regularly, or in large enough groups to make a difference. Therefore, the 19th Amendment didn’t have the major effect people had hoped or feared. Many people were confused on what to do to support their rights, and feminism for the regular people did come to somewhat of a standstill.

The 1930’s, a time of hardship and economic depression, began a time when women began to fill the typical roll of American mother and housewife again, but it was also a time of great political rights and job equality for women. Despite setbacks, women of the time were able to get into positions of political power and make many improvements in their lives. After this time, women mainly left this downturn in advances for the labor and hard work that needed to be done during World War II, on the home front. The feminists of the 1930’s paved the way for the Rosie the Riveters of the 1940’s, and continued the example of the suffragists of the 1920’s in many ways, and made huge contributions to the working rights of many.