From Marriage to the Market: The Transformation of Women’s Lives and Work

In her essay “Support for Women’s Domestic Economy in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries,” Susan Thistle explores the changes that took place in women’s lives and the American economy in the last half of the 20^th century.  In order to better understand these changes, Thistle focuses on the interaction between gender and a developing market society and examines how and why these interactions changed over time.  She begins by explaining that before the Industrial Revolution, marriage was an arrangement in which women worked for men.  This arrangement did not immediately change with the onset of a market economy.  Rather the Industrial Revolution led to gradual change of old ways of production. 

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Thistle explains, production of items in the home defined the tasks of white and African American women.  White women in rural areas were recognized as a source of wealth in the household economy.  By 1840s, men focused on producing goods for sale, while women focused on the needs of household.  In early encounters with the market economy, men took over any work that could make money, while women were directed towards household work.  Thus, there was no change in the division of labor between the sexes.  It was different for African American women.  Because of slavery, they were forced to participate in the market economy.  They therefore had to work outside the home, while still tending to the family needs, while

Thistle acknowledges that with the rise of industrial capitalism came the introduction of new technology, which had the potential to lighten household duties.  However, these technological advances, she argues, were only employed in the established framings of the home and greater economy.  Furthermore, most families, particularly those of African American, had no means of obtaining the new appliances and services.

Thistle argues that the emerging commercial and industrial economy in United States initially had damaging effects on the lives of women.  Instead of replacing their old tasks, the new economy forced new demands on women, which interfered with the task essential to their families’ survival.  Thistle demonstrates how white women were largely successful in resisting new demands.  African American women, on the other hand, were unable to avoid their additional roles.  They experienced the discrimination of both race and gender, which forced them into low-paid work.  It wouldn’t be until the developments scene in the decades after World War II, concludes Thistle, that the arrangement of labor between the sexes would transform.

This was a very detailed essay.  Susan Thistle does a good job of explaining each point.  I particularly liked how she focused on the different experiences encountered by White women and Africa American women.  She discusses how men throughout the different centuries kept certain jobs from women, which I found interesting.  However, I would have liked for her to discuss the willingness of the women to give up such jobs.  Why were these jobs kept from women?