A Study Of Plight Of Women’s Employment And Its Reasons In Britain During The19^th Century

Along with the industrial revolution developing deeply in Britain in the19thcentury, departments that women engaged in were gradually expanding. Women’semployment status was unoptimistic because of poor working conditions, low payment,difficult living environment and some other factors. Official statistics departmentdiminished the relevant data of women’s employment and the most of people did notrecognize women’s employment and contribution generally in society. These twoabove made women’s employment were hidden artificially, and even women workerswere condemned. Gender discrimination and gender consciousness in patriarchalsociety resulted in women’s lack of education and skills. Furthermore, women workerswere crowded out by the organization or unions of men workers and restricted by thenational laws and regulations. All these factors above led to women’s plight ofemployment.This paper is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the plight andstatus of women’s employment. With the industrial revolution deeply in England in the19thcentury, lots of women were engaged in the tolling industries under terribleconditions. What particularly typical was that women who worked in the lead chemicalfactory, match factory, decorating products factory, washing industry andcotton-making factory cannot be secured in physical health. Additionally, they sufferedunjust treatment from the employer or the foreman, sometimes behavioral insult. Thismade them in the unhealthy circumstance both physically and mentally. Worse wasthat: they generally live in dirt, disorderly and bad circumstance; they were short offood and lack of medical care. They factors above brought negative effects to theirwork unhealthy working and living conditions and low payment supplement each otherand constituted the needy status and image of the low-middle class women. The second part discusses women’s employment condition that be diminished.This part elaborates specific ways and embodiments that women’s contribution tosociety and country cannot be recognized in the country that combined with capitalismand patriarchy. Men dominated the country’s statistical work and made statistics ofwomen employment inaccurate. Classification of occupations lacked identification ofindustries that women were engaged in. All the factors above caused incompletestatistics of women’s employment and underestimated the value they created.The third part discusses the reason for the plight of women’s employment. In thesociety of patriarchy, division of labour and gender difference constructed a series ofdisadvantaged factors that prevented women from employment artificially to maintaineconomic status of men. These factors made men and women receive distincteducation and possess different educational background. Meanwhile, contents andrequirements of skill training to men and women. In addition, men industrialassociations excluded women from employment. And traditional gender awarenessaggravated plight of women’s employment and made their social status more margin.