Changing Roles in a Changing SocietySlide 2Slide 3Gender Roles & Economic DevelopmentHunting and Gathering SocietiesHorticultural SocietiesPastoral SocietiesAgricultural SocietiesSlide 9Early IndustrializationThe U.S. ExperienceThe Pre-Industrial PeriodIndustrializationIndustrialization & Changes in the HouseholdSlide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Slide 21Clerical WorkWomen’s Rising LFPSlide 24Changing Roles in a Changing SocietyFor many years, the analysis of the behavior of men and women was heavily based on the importance of “man the hunter” and the biological function of woman as mother. A woman’s activities were centered around the home and her role as wife and mother. Any job she took outside the home needed to be compatible with her household responsibilities. On the other hand, a man’s role as provider pushed him to greater efforts outside the home.The popular perception was that male and female roles among nonhuman species provided support for the view that biology is destiny. More recently, however, anthropologists have found in their studies of animals that the male is not always aggressive and dominant and the female is not always passive and nurturing.Instead, behavior results from the influences of both inborn traits (“nature”) and the environment (“nurture”).Gender Roles & Economic DevelopmentIn technologically primitive societies of hunters and gatherers, men hunted large animals and defended the tribe, while women gathered fruits and vegetables, hunted small animals, prepared the food, and cared for the children. This division of labor worked well when women were pregnant or nursing most of their adult lives and therefore could not participate in activities far from the home.Hunting and Gathering SocietiesHorticultural SocietiesIn the somewhat more advanced horticultural societies, plants were cultivated in small plots near the home. Men continued to conduct warfare and also prepared the ground by slashing and burning. Women prepared the food and cared for the infants. Other activities were shared and the status of men and women was fairly equal during this stage.Pastoral SocietiesIn pastoral societies, men herded large animals, an activity that often took them far from home. Herding provided much of what was needed for subsistence. Women tended to the home and had very low status.Agricultural Societies With the introduction of the plow, societies became more advanced agriculturally. However, only men owned the land and did most of the work in the fields. Women tended small animals and gardens and worked in the now permanent homes taking care of large families. A great disparity between the status of men and women developed.Along with developing agriculture, urban centers began to form with a growing class of merchants and artisans.Early Industrialization During the early stages of industrialization, much of the production that was previously concentrated in the household moved to the factory and the office. Women’s activities continued to center around the home. As their productive role declined, so did their status.In time, though, continued industrialization drew increasing numbers of women into the paid labor force.The U.S. ExperienceThe Pre-Industrial PeriodIn colonial America, as in other pre-industrial economies, the family was the dominant economic unit and production was the main function of the family. Both adults and children participated in production.Most of the necessities of survival were produced in the household. Some household goods were produced for sale and the proceeds were used to purchase some market goods. Men were primarily responsible for agriculture while women did most of the rest of the work. The productive role of children and the high infant mortality rates provided an incentive to have many children. (In the 1700s, women probably had an average of 8 to 10 children.)IndustrializationWith industrialization in the late 1700s and early 1800s, production moved outside the home. Women, however, were mostly confined to household work. Some women worked in the textile mills and other industries. But it was mostly young women who did so and, when they married, they usually left their jobs to tend to their households, which would soon include children. A more rigid division of labor within the home developed. The earliest labor force participation (LFP) data show that in 1890, 84% of men but only 18% of women were in the paid labor force. Of ma rried women, only 5% worked outside the home. The American ideal of the family was the male breadwinner and the female homemaker who tended to domestic needs.Industrialization & Changes in the HouseholdDespite new inventions, the time spent doing housework increased because standards for housekeeping rose. The fertility rate declined during industrialization, partly because the economic value of children from household production was greatly diminished.In addition, children spent more years in school and remained dependent on their parents for longer.Women born in the early 1800s averaged fewer than five births, and those born near the end of the century averaged about three births. However, the amount of maternal care per child increased dramatically.The man was the head of the household and the authority in all important matters, such as where the family would live.The woman made most of the everyday purchases but with her husband’s wishes and the pleasure of her family in mind.In the 1800s the ideal for femininity involved domesticity and submissiveness.Initially, the availability of women for work in industry was welcomed because they provided cheap labor, while agricultural production could be maintained by men. However, with the growing influx of immigrants, attitudes changed. Working men were eager to get women out of all but the lowest paying jobs.At this time, market work was common among single women and a small number of women chose careers over marriage as a lifelong vocation. However, exclusive dedication to the role of wife and mother was widely accepted as the only proper and fulfilling life for a woman.Eventually progressive modernization brought about dramatic changes in conditions of production and in the economic roles of men and women.Changes in ideas and aspirations followed and rigid differentiation of roles became less appropriate.As recently as 1940, the labor force