Women and Economic Development - I
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Women “often the most exploited of workers.” At the same time, it mentions that women often choose to work outside the home. How can you reconcile these two seemingly contradictory remarks? What drives women to work in exploitative jobs?
This statement is contradictory because even though “many women view these jobs however unsatisfactory as preferable to unpaid work at home, since wage earning provides them with a measure of economic stability and financial independence” these remarks are contradictory because in a way they are under paid when working in these jobs that exploiting them by not only by very low pay but also really bad work place conditions. For example in Luz case where she mentions the fact that they had to buy cleaning supplies to clean the companies restroom and bring toilet paper from home and not only that but also she mentions “we’re only supposed to go to the bathroom once a day”, apparently this a very good example of exploitation. In fact even our on country went through the same thing with women but in our case we had people like “Mother Jones” who not only protested against women’s working conditions but also men and children. Such groups like the Knights of Labor formed in 1905 pushed for better working conditions during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Other events like the Triangle Shirt factory fire in 1911 pushed for national protesting against the working condition which brought attention to Roosevelt’s ears. Basically the women in the sewing factor had been locked inside the factor while there was a fire going on. Many died because these women had not been trained to evacuate the building many died next to their sewing machine and others jumped out the windows. These events changed the working atmosphere for the working women.
Nevertheless, these women’s independence of financial income comes with the price of being exploited in large companies which makes this statement contradictory because also “the jobs in these factories pay little and offer few opportunities for advancement. They are repetitive, monotonous, and frequently hazardous.” Which is almost the same thing as if they were at home working without pay and without anyway of advancing.
This statement is contradictory because even though “many women view these jobs however unsatisfactory as preferable to unpaid work at home, since wage earning provides them with a measure of economic stability and financial independence” these remarks are contradictory because in a way they are under paid when working in these jobs that exploiting them by not only by very low pay but also really bad work place conditions. For example in Luz case where she mentions the fact that they had to buy cleaning supplies to clean the companies restroom and bring toilet paper from home and not only that but also she mentions “we’re only supposed to go to the bathroom once a day”, apparently this a very good example of exploitation. In fact even our on country went through the same thing with women but in our case we had people like “Mother Jones” who not only protested against women’s working conditions but also men and children. Such groups like the Knights of Labor formed in 1905 pushed for better working conditions during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Other events like the Triangle Shirt factory fire in 1911 pushed for national protesting against the working condition which brought attention to Roosevelt’s ears. Basically the women in the sewing factor had been locked inside the factor while there was a fire going on. Many died because these women had not been trained to evacuate the building many died next to their sewing machine and others jumped out the windows. These events changed the working atmosphere for the working women.
Nevertheless, these women’s independence of financial income comes with the price of being exploited in large companies which makes this statement contradictory because also “the jobs in these factories pay little and offer few opportunities for advancement. They are repetitive, monotonous, and frequently hazardous.” Which is almost the same thing as if they were at home working without pay and without anyway of advancing.
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