FREE ESSAY ON WOMEN WORK ON FACTORIES

WOMEN WORK ON FACTORIES

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, women have made great strides towards equality.
The 19th century saw the emergence of women entering the work force, gaining economic
freedom, starting and participating in movements and most importantly, challenging the
traditional and excepted role of women. Along the path for women's social and economic
freedom, there were many detours and barriers, as well as exceptional opportunities for
their advancement.
The first major step for women was the emergence into the work force and thus challenging
the accepted female gender role in society. They left their families, homes and friends
to venture into the working world, leaving behind a safe-haven. Women entering the work
force had its advantages and disadvantages. One problem that arose was the matter of the
family. If a mother left her children to go work to help support the family, she was
looked down upon by society as a bad mother. The father was also, more than likely,
looked down upon as well for not being able to sufficiently provide for his family. This
is probably why many mothers were hesitant to enter the workforce for fear of social
humiliation. But many women saw this as the only way to properly provide for her
children. If the husband was a heavy drinker or gambler, there were little alternative
opportunities for the mother to provide for her family. 
Many women found jobs in locally on farms or in mills, or they ventured to large cities
for factory and millwork. Many of theses women were unmarried and they gained
independence from their families by going to work. The women worked long, hard hours six
to seven days a week and had little time for leisure outside of their home. By working,
they were given the rare opportunity of economic freedom and independence from males. 
The working conditions in these mills or factory were far from the desired conditions
with low pay, long hours and harsh working conditions. Complaints of working conditions
arouse in several mills and the female workers wanted a change. The workers organized
groups during breaks or at their homes. Many of the workers lived together in company
homes and it would be easy for them to converse on the conditions in the workplace.
Because of the tight living quarters, one was expected and socially forced to cohere with
the majority opinion. This could be both a positive and a negative force for the women.
Social pressure tends to gathered large numbers, but this could have given rise to
irrational thinking and unnecessary action. When in a large group, ideas and thoughts
have a tendency to be viewed as less harmful than they would if suggested in a small
group. The more people involved, the more chance ideas have a way of being accepted out
of fear of being outcast by the larger group. This could have been a major barrier for
these workers, although, little is mentioned on this aspect. For the most part, the large
numbers provided more power to the women and their cause.
A key aspect of a woman's life was simply belonging to a group. Whether it was in the
factories, mills, abolition or women's movement, or even the Washingtonians, women
strived to belong and be apart of an organization of other women. Coherence to social
norms and expectations was key to a woman's success or failure to belong to an organized
body. This is seen with the factory girl's, and their expectation to cohere with the
group, otherwise, they would be outcast by the group and their time in the home or work
would be long, lonely and painful. Another example of expected social coherence pertained
to alcohol. A mother who was fond of the drink was looked down upon by society for not
following through with her responsibility to her husband and children, and the same went
for the husbands. Heavy social pressure steered many women away from alcohol with the
friendly pressure from the Washingtonians. 
These workingwomen went on strike to send out the message of their seriousness and
loyalty to their movement and failed several times. This was, more than likely, a lack of
the necessary skills required to efficiently change social norms. They lacked the skills
of organization, speaking and political knowledge and other skills on the note that these
experiences were new to womankind. Never before had American women have the opportunity
to challenge the system. The abolition movement was the perfect opportunity to gain these
necessary skills. 
Many women were involved in the success of the Abolition Movement. Here they stepped over
the accepted social norms of society further than they ever had before and gained many
skills necessary for the success of both the Abolition Movement and the Women's Right
Movement. They gained access to vital resources and skills needed to obtain their goals.
Many can argue that the factory or millwork, or virtually any poor working condition and
early movement loses were detrimental to women. But it must be understood that for women
to be out of the home was in itself a huge step for women. Yes, they had poor working
conditions, low pay and bad jobs, but women had to start somewhere. One cannot start at
the top. For the short amount of time that women have been in the workforce, huge strides
have been made for the betterment of womankind. Their early loses and setbacks taught
them valuable lessons that provided the necessary skills for the future achievement and
advancement of women.