In the last 50 years, millions of women who were once dependent on men have been able to gain independence in the workplace. However, it has not always been this easy for a woman to enter the workforce with equal pay or rights. It wasn’t long ago that women had to fight for their right to earn a living on their own.
While women have been in the workforce for over a thousand years, it hasn’t always been easy to access the same positions and wages as men. In the past, one of the most common jobs for women has been vending, working outside their homes in ancient times in South Asia, Africa, Central America, and other parts of the world. In times where the role for women was extremely limited, this was one of the most popular ways to earn a wage.
In times like ancient Rome, where women were not allowed attend, speak in, or vote at political assemblies and overall administratively had no say at all, jobs for women were limited to vending and prostitution. Most other ancient cultures mirrored the ideals of ancient Rome and jobs for women remained restricted. It wasn’t until the Age of Enlightenment (1650) where the idea sprouted that women were just as competent as men. However, not much changed for women in the workforce until the Industrial Revolution. While jobs in factories were occupied by both women and men, it was rarely for purposes of equality or social justice, but more for profit. Women mostly found jobs in domestic service, textile factories, piece workshops, and coal mines. The Industrial Revolution provided independent wages, mobility and a better standard of living. For the majority, however, factory work in the early years of the 19th century resulted in a life of hardship. Working conditions were unsanitary and dangerous, education suffered because of work demands, and men received higher wages than women, something that was not uncommon for the time being. Furthermore, during this time, men viewed women in the workplace as a threat to their societal status. Because of this, women were rarely included in work unionization.
By the early 19th century, millworkers from Lowell, Massachusetts began to form their own union to fight employers’ efforts to cut paychecks. Thus, the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA) was created and began standing up for inequalities in the workplace. Following the lead of the LFLRA, women slowly gained the confidence to enter the workforce. By the Civil War, the role of women in the workplace advanced significantly. As a result of the draft, women were forced to acquire jobs to support not only their families, but the country as well.
While female involvement in the workforce has greatly progressed since past times, there still remains inequality for some women who occupy jobs that have higher rates of men working. In a survey conducted for U.S working adults in 2017, researches found that “women employed in majority-male workplaces are more likely to say their gender has made it harder for them to get ahead at work” and that “half of women who say their workplace is mostly male (49%) say sexual harassment is a problem where they work”. It is obvious that problems with women in the workforce has greatly declines. There have been labor laws established, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and a smaller amount of women report of gender discrimination being a problem in their workplace.
There have also been issues surrounding women who want to start a family, get pregnant, and when they come back to their jobs, their role has often changed, been taken over by someone else, or they can no longer advance with their role in that position.
Another hardship that women face in the workplace is focused around appearance. I too, have noticed that women are often judged more on appearance and professionalism than men. While male professional attire consists of jackets and ties, women often have to worry about hair, makeup, and clothes. Forbes Magazine writes that “Whether clothing, body frame or makeup related… sometimes the criticism is that women don’t look polished enough, with the general attitude being that the woman doesn’t care about their job if they aren’t wearing makeup or high heels”. However, if women put too much makeup on or wear too high of a heel they can often appear unprofessional and not in the right dress code for the workplace.
All in all, women in the past have continuously struggled for the same working rights as males. While gender inequality in the workplace still exists for some women, there is no question that we have progressed through history and have earned the same right to earn a living from hardships in the past.