Women In The Progressive Era

Providing for yourself and your family is a basic necessity, but for generations this need was only allowed to be addressed by men. A woman had always played the supporting role in a household while the man worked and contributed to the house financially. Before it was acceptable for a woman to work, her role in society was simple; a caregiver that looked after the house and cared for the children. While this may sound appealing to some, women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the Progressive Era, yearned to do their part in earning wages for their families. To overcome the difficulties that came along with reestablishing a social norm, women were forced through many hardships to prove that they were able to stand among men as a prominent
The strong, independent, and determined women of the time period proved to be very hard working individuals that persevered into creating a new way of life for the average woman.
During the Progressive Era, women took part in a variety of roles, including nurses, cigar makers, secretaries, and if they did not have any applicable skills, a prostitute. Many of the poor Americans and immigrants were forced to work in a factory, as that was their only option to support their families. These factories are remembered for treating their employees terribly with long hours, low wages, and hazardous working environments. Although the men had very harsh treatment at their job, women by far were treated even worse than men since they were seen as the inferior sex by society at the time. The complications that the women factory workers had to face were incredibly tragic. Fear was the driving force in succumbing to the awful conditions that factories presented. The fear of having no job and make no money was worth withstanding terrible treatment. The indomitable women that braved working in the factories and in other professions took on the admirable role of doing whatever they had to so that their husbands, children, and other family members would have a
Today, women have just as many rights as anyone else does and hold prominent positions in companies, whereas this would be unheard of in the Progressive Era. Women enjoy the simple freedoms of being allowed to strive for any job of their choosing, have free speech, and do not have to rely on a man to support them. While women do have rights that equal men, there is still a blaring issue in today’s times: the wage gap. The wage gap is exactly what it sounds like, a major difference in how much women are paid as compared to men. Women have come so far from the dark days of being treated awfully and thrust into dangerous occupations, but even in the modern world, sexism in the workplace is still apparent if you look for it. It is not out in the open as much as it once was, but statistics show that women are payed noticeably less than men in the same position are. This is quite honestly pitiful. Women have fought too hard and for too long for a wage gap keeping women from full equality in the work place. I believe that the wage gap is not a thing that can be changed in a matter of months by a law to be passed, I think that people are in desperate need of relinquishing all sexist viewpoints that they may have. This is easier said than done, but in an ideal world, all people, no matter the gender, race, or sexual orientation will