Analysis Of Disorderly Women By Jacquelyn Dowd Hall

Author Jacquelyn Dowd Hall’s article titled, “Analysis of Disorderly Women: Gender and Labor Militance in the Appalachian South” presented many interesting aspects from a mentally refreshing point of view that stood out compared to other articles that speak on the topic of textile industries. Refreshing, due to the fact that it shed light onto the women perspective of the often male dominated topic. Jacquelyn Hall speaks on just how women are often marginalized in nearly every aspect of society. These aspects include the workforce and historical documents, and this very marginalization of women as an entirety is commonly displayed each and every day. Jacquelyn Hall began the article by introducing the readers to a young woman by the name of

This clearly meant that the 1920’s were the time period when the series of events were taking place. Jacquelyn Hall opens by discussing the women led protest within Elizabethton which fought against low wages, amongst other unequal treatment of women in the very industry that women were currently dominating in. Hall also speaks on the domino effect that this protest had on the entire country. Elizabethton ultimately sparked a subtle revolution of other protests involving labor all throughout other areas. At this time in history, women were ultimately the central component of the entirety of the textile industry. The fact that twenty percent of women aged fourteen and above were currently taking part in paid professions, shows that the role many women played in households was slowly beginning to change. Hall describes the situation as one where the women were obviously refusing to work, while simultaneously willing and ready to negotiate. Just as in about any other worker led protest where equal rights are

Many may think this is an obvious observation to be made, yet the interpretation of titles often goes unnoticed or is simply overlooked. Hall gives a statement which gives the reader an understandable interpretation of the title when she states, “The activists of Elizabethton belonged to a vulnerable tradition of disorderly women, women who, in times of political upheaval, embody tensions that are half-conscious or only dimly understood” (Hall). This statement alone sheds light onto exactly how many different components the common marginalization of women in society takes place in. Women, not only in this time period, but also currently are often either overlooked or simply claimed to being not understood when seen attempting to create names for themselves. This may be why feminism often has a negative connotation connected to it. Feminism is ultimately the advocacy for equality of both genders in society, and this is exactly what was represented all throughout Jacquelyn Hall’s article. This was done so when Hall mentioned the common instances where female militancy had often gone “unseen” due to the fact that it was a contradiction of conventional wisdom and had simply fractured America’s image of what an ideal woman should represent. This image is often categorized as slightly submissive towards men, while behaving in a meek, controlled manner in all situations, no matter the