One specific quote that I found interesting in Susan Ware’s Women and the Great Depression was, “The typical woman in the 1930s had a husband who was still employed, although he had probably taken a pay cut to keep his job; if the man lost his job, the family often had enough resources to survive without going on relief or losing all its possessions.” This quote highlighted the inferiority of women in that time period as it implied that it was only the men who could go out and work and earn money for a family. Similarly, another quote showed the discrimination against women in the 1930’s. One man’s solution to solving the unemployment rate when it came to his attention that the amount of women working and the amount of unemployed men was the same was, “Simply fire the women, who shouldn’t be working anyway, and hire the men. Presto! No unemployment. No relief rolls. No depression.” This quote emphasized the way men viewed women during the 1930’s and expressed how it was believed that it was unacceptable for a woman to have a job if a man did not because it was assumed that the man was better than the women.
An interesting point made in the article, Women and the Great Depression, was that there was a positive aspect of the depression for women as they were given the chance to prove their worth and step up to the task while their husbands suffered from unemployment or wage cuts. This was shown when the writing stated, “Women, on the other hand, saw their roles in the household enhanced as they juggled to make ends meet.” This brings forth the idea that women took advantage of the depression and some actually benefited form it.
I believe that the WPA was an important part of the New Deal. According to the article, The African-American Mosaic, the New Deal included, “special programs focused on three centuries of cultural accomplishments of African-Americans”. This means that the New Deal had parts of it that benefited specifically African-Americans, which was rare in that period of time.
I read about Mexican immigrants and I thought that they had it tough. However, women were discriminated just as much. I think the quote that you mentioned about the one man's solution to solving the unemployment rate was jaw dropping. He openly discriminated against women saying they should not work while their husbands are unemployed. I really like how you brought up a positive aspect that women had at the time. It was a good way to show both the pros and cons of being a woman at the time.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting that the men did not consider the women in the workforce and helpful towards providing for their families in the depression. I would hope in today's times when women are more respected, that they would be proactive and bring in a stable income. Do believe that if the men, from the first article, were accepting the women would not need a time to prove themselves? also if the men thought this way, America could have been more united to move out ofthe depression more quickly. The struggles women faced at the times were difficult, the women had to be strong to prevail over the repression and hatred towards them.
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