Kessler-Harris Response

Alice Kessler-Harris' article "Stratifying by Sex: Understanding the History of Working Women" provides a good general outline of women's historical forays into the United States workforce from the Puritan era until after World War II.  Kessler-Harris, along with other scholars she cites, astutely observes that women's roles in the labor force must be understood not only in the context of the family, but also in the context of the political economies in which those families lived.  Thus, her exploration of employers' needs and rationalizations for hiring or not hiring women at various points in American history are highly appropriate.  This exploration also offers a broad perspective on women's jobs that many others have overlooked, instead favoring the narrow "gender wars" paradigm.  Kessler-Harris also pairs her analysis of employers' roles with the role of pre-existing, traditional gender roles, therefore bringing to the reader's attention the "tension between the need for labor and the need for stable families" (106).  

While Kessler-Harris' article brings many relevant points to light, there remain some points that could have been explored in more detail.  For instance, I wonder how child labor in factories affected the family structure and women's roles in the workplace and at home.  Though she mentions child labor a few times, she does not delve into it.  Second, many women opposed the idea of going into the workforce, even after World War II: it would be interesting to see, in detail, how this struggle between women played out, and where (if any) social or economic stratifications occurred in that struggle.  Third, it would have been fascinating to see what new social, political, and economic factors entered into the equation several decades after World War II, particularly during the rise of feminism.  In other words, what social, economic or political events served to reinforce feminism or set it back?  In which professional areas did women first break into during that time and why?  Fourth, a deeper analysis of the role of technology in women's labor history would also have been fascinating.  Which inventions were the most important and how exactly did they affect the historical development of women in the workforce?   There are surely many other unanswered questions, but those four are the main ones that spark my interest.