Women In The Housewife

Throughout American history, male and females have defined an everlasting double standard that has materialized in regards to jobs, income, and economic stature. If we take a glance at our history, it will show how for centuries a person’s sex has become a strong variation into the structure of American labor markets and that civil and political rights have become diluted but not completely removed. This economic image of women reflects the contradictions of discrimination in America and the harmony of basic discrimination between individual and group progress. Women have come a long way throughout history and have been able to increase their social citizenship, as signified by access to jobs and an increase in their education. Yet, woman still

“It was within the colonial household that women had a responsibility to care for her children, husband, and servants” (Often, 123). The home was the center of the housewife 's responsibilities. It was the housewife 's obligation to keep the home clean, food prepared, the children well behaved, and the servants obedient. Most importantly, an American housewife was viewed as the essential aspect to the family and social structures. It wasn’t until the development of industrialization in Europe and America that brought dramatic changes in women’s work and brought an ever-present change to their humble housewife

Women devoted their lives to creating a clean, comfortable, nurturing home for their husbands and children. During the Civil War, however, women turned their attention to the world beyond the home. Thousands of women joined volunteer units and signed up to work as nurses during the war. It was the first time in American history that women played a considerable role in war effort. The Civil War had become a women’s war. The extended conflict opened up even more opportunities for women. “When men departed in uniform, women often took their jobs. Five hundred women clerks became government workers, with over one hundred in the Treasury Department alone. Other women stepped up to the fighting front. More than four hundred women accompanied men into battle by posing as male solders” (Kennedy & Cohen,