Books About Women in the Workforce

SC, You might like "The Egg and I" by Betty MacDonald. It was written during the depression and she describes all the jobs she and her sister had to endure in order to feed themselves and their mother. Much of the book focuses on her attempt to start a chicken farm, but overall it's a very moving book about women in the workforce at that time. It touches on everything from crazy office bosses to crazy husbands to abortion to daily life for women before all our modern conveniences. It's written with a lot of humor, but there is an undertone of a woman who is paddling as fast as she can to stay sane and safe. It was a best seller in it's day and it might still be in print or available used on Amazon.

Thanks for the suggestion, GW. That sounds like a good one!

Here's a list by the New York University Libraries.

Thank you for the list, Walter! I found some interesting titles there, and some names of other writers to research.

Oh! I just found another good one:

"Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer In A Bomber Factory," by Constance Reid and Clara Marie Allen, two school teachers who, during their summer vacation, went to work in an aircraft factory, building bombers during WWII.

"Shutterbabe" was not a particularly good book about being a woman photojournalist but it was a book about being a woman photojounalist. I wanted this book to be great. Not many women get to do this kind of work and I really wanted to hear her story.

There was a semi decent one, I think called "Strip City" about working as a stripper.

"Nickle and Dimed" was written by a woman who decided to document what it was like to live on minimum wage jobs. That was pretty good.

"Geisha" was a good story but not so well told, by the only American woman to ever become a geisha. She was an anthropoligist.

There is a good one ticking around somewhere in my head.... I can't quite bring it up...... it is going to drive me nuts until I remember.... it was a good story told well.....

How crazy is it that I can remember the mediocre ones but not the good one?

Yeah, now you'd think that would be a good book, wouldn't you? Sounds like she had an interesting enough life.

The Geisha book.....hmmm..... I don't know. It might be interesting, but it's such a completely different world from the one we American women inhabit. It sounds kind of demeaning to me, and it might make me mad! (Hee!)



I've heard about this one. It sounds pretty good. Thanks, boomer!

Just wanted to add this: I just started reading "My Life In France," by Julia Child. It tracks her the beginning of her career as America's leading authority on French cuisine.

So far, it's excellent!

Hmmm...you'd think there's be a lot about the Land Girls in WW II UK, who went to farm in place of the men who were in the forces.

Marge Piercy wrote a book about WW II....just looked it up....it has a different name in the US..

Gone to Soldiers:

Amazon page

Marge Piercy's book is excellent.

NOTE: BBB was one of the founders of the organizations in BOLD:

(ii) Unions.

Working women have founded one union-related and several union-like organizations. The most important group is the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Its 5,400 members share the goal of eventually representing the four million unionized and, through unionization, the thirty-four million non-unionized women in the U.S. CLUW manages to be a strict adherent of the labor-movement tradition while also espousing such feminist objectives as equality in the work place, ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, provision of high-quality child-care services, prevention of child abuse, and elimination of tax inequities affecting women. Where feminist and labor interests conflict, CLUW very carefully straddles the two ideological camps. For example, it can afford to support seniority rules that might require dismissal of recently-hired women workers because its program includes enactment of federal legislation guaranteeing jobs for all who want to work.

In contrast to CLUW, the Union Women's Alliance to Gain Equality (Union WAGE) considers the traditional labor movement irredeemably male-dominated, and attempts to organize San Francisco Bay Area women into caucuses or independent unions. Its bimonthly newspaper, Union W.A.G.E., has existed since 1971 when the organization was founded and has increased steadily in size and scope.

Many other union-like groups have been formed among the low-paid blue-and white-collar women in the larger cities and industries, Some are independent, but the majority are caucuses and interest groups within established organizations. Such union-like groups have, therefore, been excluded from this report.

On the other hand, feminists have made almost no effort to organize poor rural women, even though a number of feminist periodicals have produced heart-rending reports of conditions in Appalachia and among women migrant workers.

Read the entire essay about the struggles of women:

http://www.fordfound.org/archives/item/0111

The Marge Piercy book sounds very interesting, dlowan -- thanks for the recommendation!

BBB, I have to go out so I didn't get a chance to read your posts completely, but I will definately read them when I get back. Thank you for the links!

I'm interested in reading more about the struggles of working women through the years -- how things have changed, and how they haven't.



Unfortunately, I think this is still the case today, contrary to popular opinion. From what I've read, women still only make 75 cents to every dollar that men make.

Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out.