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WHAT ARE WOMEN DOING ? 53
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
At Tlie Present Moment We Hear It Asked ...
as working * " not like men , "but like horses . " Women are employed in book-bindingprint-coloringand paper-bag making *—in the
manufacture of cutlery , , hats and , caps , gloves , lace , furs , wire-blinds ; ii-clayluetobacco . Thenagaina large number
are guns emp , ppes loyed , ppe as market , g -women , , and as itinerant , , vendors of fish , fruitflowerssticksipe-clayand all the various commodities which
house , -wives , expect , to p buy at , their doors . At their own homes , women take in lain needle-workembroidery and laundry-work .
Some go out as p charwomen , and , others as upholsterers . In the _country , a great part of the field work is done by women .
If choice of occupation is what you want , surely it may be said , here it is in abundance . But there is one notable fact which ought
not to be overlooked ; namely , that whatever mill , yard , factory or workshop you enter , you will find the women in the lowest , the
dirtiest , and the unhealthiest departments . The reason is simple . The manager of a business naturally asks who will do the inferior
work at the lowest rateand as women ' s labor is the cheapest , it falls as a matter of course , to their share . It is an undeniable fact that
in this country a very large proportion of the hard labor is done by women . It is proved by experience that marriage and domestic
service are not a sufficient outlet for the whole of the female portion of the classes ; and there seems little reason to expect that there will
be poorer any material alteration in this respect for many years to come . We have seen that in the upper and middle classes of society a
vast number of women are either working with misdirected energy , or are wasting their days in
That " That sou rank ls piecemea emptiness l even and ere sloth they kill . "
In that other large class , whose social status is undefined—who labor classes for —the hire laborers , but who are do willing not belong , _bxit to the wh narrowness at are called of the the working field of
industry open to them not only lowers the market value of their work of _> but ation in many unsuited cases obli to their ges them particul to emp ar loy tastes themselves and cap in abilities modes .
They occup are hindered from doing the things that they could do best . In the poorest class , we meet with a similar condition of things ;
less feminine lumber skill . , Surel whether y some of head re-adjustment or hand , being is wanted thrown which here aside . fineness It as cannot use of
hand be rig and ht that accurate the hi perception gher kinds are of most work essential , those in , and in which skill , rather than strengthis requiredshould be exclusively appropriated
, , whose by men , while arativel the coarser delicate and organization rougher work makes is the given m less to women able to ,
endure comp it . One wonders y how such an unnatural arrangement can have come into existenceProbabldifferent causes
contri-. y many to buted the to purpose bring it to about inquire , and how still combine a change to may maintain be effe it . cted It . is This more ,
however , is a subject for separate consideration .
What Are Women Doing ? 53
WHAT ARE WOMEN DOING ? 53
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 1, 1861, page 53, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01031861/page/53/
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