Rosie the Riveter: Women Working During World War II |
||
HomeHistoryWomen's StoriesWomen's PhotosWomen'sArtifactsCredits |
Cultural division of labor by sex
The cultural division of labor by sex is based on the idea that there are two main areas of life: public and private. Women are responsible for the private sphere and care for the family and the home. Men are responsible for the public sphere and work to support the family. Under the cultural division of labor by sex, women who worked outside the home were considered unfit wives and mothers, and men who could not support their families were less of a man. The family wage reinforced this by paying men as if they were supporting a family but women as if they were single. The ideal of the cultural division of labor by sex was only possible white middle-class women. Minority and lower-class women needed to work in order to help support their families. They were in low-paying female-dominated fields like domestic service and school teaching. Women worked in occupations that could not attract men because of low wages, no means of advancement, or poor working conditions. It was common for young white women who did not go to college to work until they got married and then they would quit and start a family. Middle-class white women usually went to college and then get married, some never having worked. In addition to caring for the home, women were in charge of taking care of the children. Taking care of the house and the children was more than a full-time job. Even women who worked still cared for the home and family.
|
|