1930s Women

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In the 1920’s, Women’s Rights were a popular topic, and this decade marked many advancements in women’s rights and suffrage. However, with the decline in the economy, women’s rights became less relevant as living conditions worsened in the 1930s. In the American south, women were very limited in jobs and the roles they could have. Even so, during the 1930s women needed jobs to support themselves and in some cases, their families. Because of this difficult time, women had to figure out where they fit in the workforce while the economy was in pieces. Thus, three limitations southern women faced in the 1930s were job availability and wage gaps, the way women in the workforce were viewed and treated and the unfair social standards they had to adhere …show more content…
Though there were different employment options in the service industry, women struggled to be paid enough to support their families. Consequently, women could not escape the judgment of society if they wished. For example, women were viewed as improper when they began to seek employment outside of homemaking (Myless). Though the primary cause for this way of thinking was traditional values, some people thought that married women shouldn't work because they were taking jobs away from men who needed to support a family. In the same way, married women in the workforce were seen as greedy because they supposedly had two incomes in their household. Additionally, women of color were discriminated against even more because they were seen as competitors for “white jobs.” Also, at this point in time there was a dip in marriage rates that meant there were more single women who had to earn an income for themselves and get jobs they would later be accused of stealing from men (Rotondi). All in all, working women of the 1930s were used as scapegoats who received the blame for many of the job shortages of the Great …show more content…
Another way women were discriminated against was when some states passed laws keeping women from taking public service jobs (eating). Though women were not always welcome in the workforce, they showed up and helped support the economy. In fact, women of the 1930s were given conditions that made it nearly impossible to follow societal rules. In the 1930s women were supposed to be social, religious gossips who wore dysfunctional clothing while taking care of their household, while simultaneously having to help pick up the financial slack from unemployed spouses. Women were harshly judged based on the status of their family and how they filled the role of housewife (Myless). Not to mention, during this time period there were more reports of domestic violence and alcoholism than in the many years prior (Maddock). Because of these circumstances, women had to try to support their families while also maintaining a decent social status. Correspondingly, women were stereotyped in the workplace and were openly discriminated against because of the standards society thought they should live
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