Women at Work in the 1950’s More women were in the workforce in 1952 than

there were during the war

The typical woman worker was no longer young and single

She was over 35 and married

Between 1940 and 1960 the number of working mothers quadrupled

Men generally earned twice as much as women

Women were still viewed as supplemental workers

Gendered job classification was part of every level of the economy

Gendered Job Classification

75% of women were relegated to female only jobs

Gendered job classification was part of every level of the economy

Women were least likely to get jobs that involved travel, risk, high profits, machinery, and negotiations

And the most important they were denied positions of power

Women’s Reduced Expectations

In 1950 women's average earnings or 65% of men's

By 1960 they fell to less than 60%

Few saw anything wrong with the dual pay system

Because…women didn't “need” to earn as much money as men

Many businesses placed salary caps on women

Women were expected to be better educated than men for lesser Jobs

Diminished Respect Middle aged women with grown children were called

girls in the office

Every Moment they received oversight

"If you got it from your desk you were told to sit down. If you looked around, you were told not to talk. If you went to the ladies room too many times, they tell you.”

It was generally assumed that management was always male

Expendable Office Workers

Efficiency expert's advised companies to standardize jobs in the 1950s

This effectively made office work much like factory work

Computer automation made women's work more routine

All of this standardization allowed for companies to easily replace their office women’s workforce

The expendability of women office workers further diminished their ability to negotiate and advance

PERSONAL Secretaries

Personal Secretaries were often expected to do just as much personal work and company work

That meant getting coffee, dusting his desk, reminding him of appointments, balancing his checkbook, shopping for Christmas gifts, remembering his children's birthdays

Sexual harassment and exploitation of secretaries was widespread

Workplace Sex Appeal

Employment agencies used secret code systems to rate female applicants based on their appearance and style

Often times an older woman's experience counted for less than a younger woman's attractiveness

Looking good and seeming available to male patrons was often the key to success in the service industry

In 1962 a poll said that 28% of businesses acknowledged that they considered sex appeal a qualification for some jobs

The airline industry became notorious for hiring for sex appeal

Stewardesses

Stewardesses were required by airlines to be single, young, thin and pretty

Airline executives said they had to appeal to businessmen, the primary airline customers.

Most airlines terminated or grounded their flight attendants if they got married or once the women reached age 32 or age 35.

"We'd go through a whole week of make-up and poise. They make you feel like you've never been out in public. They showed you how to smoke a cigarette, how to look at a man's eyes.”

Double Shifts & Family Life

It was a given that women workers were expected to continue the domestic work as well

Before and after factory or office hours they cooked, cleaned, shopped, and took care of children

Women were told by experts, their husbands, and their employers that their most important role was that of a wife and mother

Within working class family dynamics often times the husbands only way to assert authority was over his wives and children

In many blue color homes men had the exclusive right to make any and all important decisions

Career Women

Married women doctors, lawyers, college teachers, journalists, and social workers usually sought personal fulfillment in their work

They challenged the idea that family life offered every woman all the fulfillment she would need

American society had no room for women who wanted to combine the role of wife/mother and career

These professional women could expect little or no help from their employers, coworkers, husbands, or even friends and relatives

In job interviews they were asked to explain how they would care for their children

Career Women were often accused of demeaning their husbands by earning their own income