Women and Work

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that Connie Field's documentary 'The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter' explores a world and a social context far removed from the world of working women today in the early 21st century. As such, its use as a non-typical resource for study might appear surprising. However, as this essay argues, many of the issues addressed in this documentary with respect to women and work - choice, racism, the dichotomy of domestic and paid labor - continue to be issues confronting women today over a half-century later. From an inclusive political economy perspective, this essay argues the thesis that the experiences of the women represented in 'The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter' are reflective of broader, large scale social phenomena in regard to the differential treatment of women's labor in our globalized capitalist economies and the state structures that support these economies.

Outline:
Introduction
Rosie the Riveter in an Historical Context
Choice, Opportunity and the "Breadwinner Ideal"
Opportunity and Status of Women's Labour
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"When we understand women's labour in this historical continuum, we gain insights into the larger structural and economic forces shaping not only opportunities for women but also the exploitation of women's labour, and the restrictions placed upon women's choices by capitalist power structures. The fact that women in the 1990s worked to ensure family survival in much the same way as did women in the 1930s is indicative of the deep structural forces that have determined women's labour opportunities over time. Moreover, this historical contextualization allows us to understand the depiction of women and work in The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter in a more complex way. Many women, and in particular women from low-income families, who were often coincidentally women of colour and/or recent immigrants, have had to work in the paid labour force before the Second World War. The significance of the historical events outlined in Connie Field's documentary is not so much that women were in the paid labour force for the first time but that the nature of their labour, and their standard of recompense, was radically different from that which they "enjoyed" in the years before the Second World War."

Sample of Sources Used:

• 'The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter' (1980) by director Connie Field.
• Ambert, Anne-Marie and Krull, Catherine. "Effects on Families of Economic Changes and Inequalities." From Changing Families: Relationships in Context. Toronto: Pearson, 2005, 117-145.
• Bashevkin, Sylvia. "Conservative Legacies." From Welfare Hot Buttons: Women, Work and Social Policy Reform. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002, 19-43.
• Brand, Dionne. "We Weren't Allowed to Go Into Factory Work Until Hitler Started the War: The 1920s to the 1940s." From Peggy Bristow et al, eds. We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian Women's History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004,171-191.
• Christie, Nancy. "Conclusion: The Endangered Family." From Endangering the State: Family, Work and Welfare in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000, 310-319.

More papers on Women and Work:

• Term Paper # 134499 : "Women and Work in Canada, Post WWII"
• Analytical Essay # 88104 : "Women and Work"
• Essay # 87725 : "Women and Work"
• Essay # 36181 : "Women and Work"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: