Women in the 1930s

1. Women in the 1930s How did the depression affect them?

2. Working women • The Depression did little to alter the role of women in the American workplace. According to the 1930 census almost eleven million women, or 24.3 percent of all women in the country, were employed. Three out of every ten of these working women were in domestic or personal jobs.

3. While the number of married women in the work force actually increased by 50 % between 1930 and 1940 - despite the Depression -women found enormous obstacles blocking their entry into certain fields. • Most women found work in factory and clerical jobs, as traditional barriers against women in professional fields loomed higher. 20% were in canning factories. Some who were elementary and high school teachers, found men displacing them for higher pay. In 1939, the median salary of a male teacher was $1,953 a year, while female teachers received only $1,394.

4. Success stories • The Detroit black women’s Housewives’ League was founded in 1930 by Fannie Peck, and by 1935, the League had over 10,000 members. Nationwide, these Leagues created 75,000 jobs for African Americans, overcoming racial discrimination and ameliorating some of the devastating effects of the Depression.” (www.nwhm.org)

5. This is one of Dorothea Lange’s most famous photographs - a destitute mother in a migrant farm worker camp in California. Curley’s wife?

6. Curley and Curley’s wife?

7. Curley’s wife? Question: How does Steinbeck’s use of language in his description of Curley’s wife influence the readers’ impression of her?