J.

McKenzieSelf
RHET1312.05
Mr.StephenBurns
6April2016
WomenintheWorkforce
We hear it on the news and see it everyday in businesseswomen in the workforce.
Though there is a lot of political talkaboutwomengettingunfairtreatmentwhileworking,there
is a deeper question to be asked, and answered, is how did women go from being domestic
housewives and child rearers to CEOs, business owners, teachers, and doctors? What events
sparked the change in women to go from domestic feminism to being the breadwinners, and
whatkeptwomen,andmen,pushingtheirdaughterstosupportthemselves?
During the 1940s, World War II was making headlines all across the world. This major
event in history is also whatcausedthemassive,permanentchangeintheworkplace.Whenmen
joined the military and were shipped overseas, women had to add to their domestic duties by
taking over the jobs in heavy industry and othermaledominatedindustriesatthattime.(History
of Women in the Workforce) Women were looked upon to keep the homefrontgoingandmany
women did not know what to do or where tostart. Theyhadalwaysbeenseenasinferiortomen
and rarely left the house, unless they were on some domestic task. That is when the iconic
woman, Rosie the Riveter became famous. It was a symbol for women to know that they were
not weak, but strong and mighty and they could accomplish anything while their boys were
away.

As World War II came to an end though, many women found themselves returning to
their domestic duties when the veterans returned to work. Some womenhowever,didnotreturn
to their regular household duties but found other jobs that were considered feminine
occupations. These jobs included teaching, nursing, office work, and retail sales. Large
numbers of women began getting jobs outside of the home and it started becoming the norm to
haveawomandoingboth,rearingchildrenandearningaliving.
World War II began to give women the hope of working again. They saw new
opportunities being given to them that were restricted earlier in the 20th century. Women have
been working outside of the homesincethemiddle19thcentury,butwithworkingconditionsso
bad, labor laws put restrictions on women due to them being the weaker sex (WIC). Some of
these laws were a max of eight hour work days and working at night. These laws restricted
women from getting certain jobs that would require some overtime and prevented women from
gaining managerial or supervisory positions. Some states also setlawsstatingthatwomencould
notliftweightsoversevenpounds,againrestrictingwomenfromhavingcertainjobs.
After World War II and when the women started to join the workforce in increasing
numbers, women started to push reformsforthe workplace.Inthe1960smorefederal lawswere
beginning to be made to satisfy the needs of economic reforms for women. In 1963, the Equal
Pay Act of 1963 allowed women to receive the same amount of pay fordoingthesamejobasa
man. This act protected women from discrimination and made sure they received the same
amount of compensation that men received (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
Today, thereisstillabigdebateaboutthewagegapbetweenmenandwomen,butitisnotasbig
of a gap as it used to be before 1963 and the Equal Pay Act. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act of

1964 was passed to prevent discriminationintheworkplace.Therewasaloopholewiththisnew

federal law however, it only applied to companies with 25 or more employees (American
Constitution Society). Though this does not seem like a big deal, it gave women less
opportunities for employment in small businesses. The last major federal economic reform for
women in the workforce was the Presidential Executive Order in 1967 concerning equal
employment opportunity. Lyndon B. Johnson gave an executive order that prohibited a gender
bias against women in the hiring by federal government contractors. This meant that women
could now hold federal jobs and did not have to worry,
completely
, about being beat out for a
positionbyaman.
The driving force behind women starting to join the workforce, againandwithoutmajor
obstacles to overcome, was World War II. So, what made women, and men, continue to push
their daughters to join the workforce and balance being a working mother and acareerwoman?
The theoretical answer to this question is the vision for a prosperous future (PBS, Elaine Tyler
May). Research done by Elaine Tyler May about womenandworkinthepostwar eragivesthat
impression off. The United States (U.S.) was partoftheAlliesduringthewarandtheycameout
as the victor and as a superpower. Though a lot of fear was had duringthistime,alotofpeople
saw the future of the U.S. as bright. To getthismomentumtheyhadgoingtocontinue,theyhad
to keep the dream of aprosperousAmericaalive.AftertheColdWarbegan,thisdreambeganto
diminish. Debates and anxieties grew across the U.S. as fear that the dream would never come
true.
Men and women believe in this dream, and struggle to make it come true. After ten or
20 years they realizethedreamwaslegitimateandpromising,butitdidn'tfullyliveupto

expectations. Many parents gave mixed signals to their children: "we did what we
thought we had to do afterWorldWarII,anditdidn'tallworkoutaswehadhoped.You
childrenneedtofindyourownway."
(PBS,ElaineTylerMay).
These mixed signals sent to the children of the baby boomers really made that generation of
women join the workforce. The idea of reaching the dream of having the U.S. being very
prosperous caused many people to continue to work hard and raise to new heights to keep
Americaseconomythriving,aswellasequalityinsociety.
Another idea that could have influenced future generations of women towork,wouldbe
the Feminist Movement that began in 1963. The Feminist Movement began right after the Free
Love movement which tried to get the state away from sexual matters, like contraceptives (i.e
birth control), marriage, and adultery (The Guardian). The Feminist Movement also began to
take a lot of action after a lot of federal laws were created to reform equality in the workplace.
Feminism is another driving force to keep women more apt tojoiningtheworkforce,inorderto
essentially prove that they are not the weaker sex and can be both types of a womandomestic
andabreadwinner.
WomenintheworkforcegrewtremendouslyafterWorldWarII.Thismajoreventcaused
women toreentertheworkforceanddrovemanywomentostayactivethroughouttheendofthe
20th century, and the beginning of the 21st century. The end of World War II, the prosperous
American dream, and the Feminist Movement (sparked by the Free LoveMovement)allcaused
men and women to keep pushing the future generations of women to do itallandmanagethe
household and a career. Women today do it all the time, and we owe all of the glory to our

mothers, grandmothers, and greatgrandmothers because they are the ones who pushed for
reformsandfoughtforuswomentohaveequaljobopportunities.

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