The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's WorkPenny, Virginia
General
The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work
Penny, Virginia
Women -- Employment
A few women may by nature have a fondness for masculine pursuits; but
the number of men that have from training and circumstances a partiality
for feminine pursuits, is much greater. It has been estimated that there
are 95,000 females earning a livelihood in New York city and its
vicinity, by their labor, aside from those engaged in domestic pursuits;
and I am confident there are at least 100,000 men in the same city
engaged in pursuits well adapted to women.
As women become more generally educated, their energies will be
increased--their limits of thought expanded. They will seek employments
consistent with honor and delicacy. They will desire the elevation of
their sex, and do what they can to bring it about, regardless of the
shafts of ridicule sent by selfish men and heartless women.
"By elevating the standard and augmenting the compensation of woman's
labor," a complete revolution would be wrought in the social and
political standing of woman. Let woman once surmount the difficulties
that now oppose her, and take her stand with dignified reserve, laboring
and claiming what is her right as much as men--free labor and fair
wages--and liberal men will applaud and admire her.
As a friend of my sex, I have made investigations, and obtained
statistics that show the business position of woman at present in the
United States. I present such employments as have been, are, or may be
pursued by them, and give what information I can obtain of each one. I
may have omitted a few, and there may be some that are not yet
recognized as a distinct business. I have made the study a speciality
for three years, and spent an almost incredible amount of labor and
money in doing so. I have visited factories, workshops, offices, and
stores, for the purpose of seeing women at their vocations. I have gone
through wind and snow, cold and rain. If I could have had the time and
opportunity, I would have endeavored to see, also, something of their
home-life.
Much of the verbal information I give is impartial, as it has been given
by those with whom I talked in a casual way, they not knowing I had any
object in view; and frequently it was done in a respectful, yet off-hand
way, when making purchases. I have often bought articles merely for an
excuse to talk with people, and gain information on their occupations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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