Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950
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Kent State University / OhioLINK
2011
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302505278 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-kent13025052782021-08-03T05:37:27Z Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 Curran, Michele M. American History American Studies Gender Studies History Modern History Womens Studies Work Women Workingwomen working women working-class class middle oral history ideal women perception propaganda feminism The Great Depression World War II World War Two Postwar identity conflict struggle femininity gender This study investigates the experience of American workingwomen struggling to balance their identity as women and workers. Gender was culturally constructed to create roles for men and women that fit societal needs, as these needs fluctuated, roles changed. This thesis examines the appropriate gender roles for women according to government policy, capitalist initiatives, and media representations, while exploring the everyday conflict workingwomen expressed in oral histories when prioritizing responsibilities to their families and society. Over the years, images of ideal women varied and sent contradictory messages about the proper place of women in society, amplifying tension for workingwomen during the Great Depression, World War II, and the Post-War Years. During the Great Depression, women were encouraged by the government and pressured by society to stay home, vacating jobs for unemployed men. Despite hostility, more and more women entered the workforce, performing a masculine objective to pay bills and feed themselves and loved ones. At the beginning of World War II, when the United States experienced a labor shortage which decreased production and hindered the nation’s ability to wage war, women were called upon to obtain industrial jobs. Empowering images of beautiful young women with their sleeves rolled up and ready to work for victory, flooded magazines and factory walls, inspiring women to obtain masculine jobs in order to bring their men home sooner. Women were conflicted, placing their new duty to society before the needs of their families, by prioritizing work over their traditional responsibilities as mothers and homemakers. Regardless of the attempt to feminize industrial jobs, female industrial workers experienced a new masculine identity which challenged their relationships with the men they worked with and other female war workers in feminine jobs. At the war’s end, female industrial workers, left or were pushed out of their jobs and returned to their former feminine employment positions while refocusing their attention on their families. During the Post-War years, the desires of ideal women in popular culture were conflicted between work and home, generating the roots of new feminism. In conclusion, under different circumstances workingwomen experienced a similar challenge to balance their identity throughout the three periods of change examined in this thesis. 2011-04-12 English text Kent State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302505278 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302505278 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
American History American Studies Gender Studies History Modern History Womens Studies Work Women Workingwomen working women working-class class middle oral history ideal women perception propaganda feminism The Great Depression World War II World War Two Postwar identity conflict struggle femininity gender |
| spellingShingle |
American History American Studies Gender Studies History Modern History Womens Studies Work Women Workingwomen working women working-class class middle oral history ideal women perception propaganda feminism The Great Depression World War II World War Two Postwar identity conflict struggle femininity gender Curran, Michele M. Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 |
| author |
Curran, Michele M. |
| author_facet |
Curran, Michele M. |
| author_sort |
Curran, Michele M. |
| title |
Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 |
| title_short |
Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 |
| title_full |
Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 |
| title_fullStr |
Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Torn Identity: Workingwomen and Their Struggle Between Gender and Class, 1932-1950 |
| title_sort |
torn identity: workingwomen and their struggle between gender and class, 1932-1950 |
| publisher |
Kent State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2011 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1302505278 |
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AT curranmichelem tornidentityworkingwomenandtheirstrugglebetweengenderandclass19321950 |
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