Industrialization during the post-WWII era saw great improvements in already available technologies as well as the invention of several new ones. As Cowan points out, “when we think of the word industrialization, we think in terms not of homes but of factories and assembly lines and railroads and smokestacks.” Cleaning tools such as the vacuum cleaner and cooking appliances like the microwave oven made it easier for housewives to get work done around the house and make meals for their families. However, all of this new technology did cause a rather overlooked problem which was women were now confined to their homes and could not go out and look for paying jobs of their own. “Over the years, market labor has become increasingly specialized, and the division of labor has become increasingly more minute; but housework has not been affected by this process. The housewife is the last jane-of-all trades in a world from which the jacks-of-all trades have more or less disappeared; she is expected to perform work that ranges from the most menial physical labor to the most abstract of mental manipulations and to do it all without any specialized training.”
I happen to agree with Cowan’s assertion of how industrialization has changed the workplace. Women have filled this type of stereotypical role because of improvements in household technologies over the years. This could be the reason as to why women throughout the years have earned substantially less than men. Many women lose out on the opportunity to achieve an education or advance in the work place, (if they can in fact get a job) because their role of wife and mother consumes their lives. New technologies around the house have allowed for a type of facade where women may not even realize just how confined the are to the role of housewife. A solution offered by Cowan to this problem suggests that “by helping the next generation (and ourselves) to neutralize both the sexual connotation of washing machines and vacuum cleaners and the senseless tyranny of spotless shirts and immaculate floors”, we can solve this problem that plagues many working wives and their families.
Kimberley Ann Surin says
I enjoyed reading your post. I think brought some good points about women, industrialization and technology. However, I don’t think today woman lose as much opportunities for education because of the household tasks. I think we are getting more opportunities today, but there are other reasons why as well. Overall, I think you did a good job!