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Work for "Woman"

Page history last edited by Sarah Karlis 15 years, 2 months ago

 

        

 

From:  "Work for Woman". Punch. Vol. 38. 1860: 20. 

 

WORK FOR WOMAN.

What are we to do with our young women? is a question which is now beginning to be seriously asked by the benevolent, and by Paterfamilias1. Thanks to the prevalent taste for a profusion of finery, combined with a rising Income-Tax, girls are getting too dear, that is to say too expensive, creatures, to find husbands. Under these circumstances there has been formed a Society for the Employment of Women. It met, the other evening at 19, Langham Place, the Earl Of Shaftesbury2  in the Chair. Among various recommendations and suggestions for the accomplishment of its gallant and generous object,—

" Mr. Cookson urged law-engrossing as a suitable occupation for women3, described the office established by the Society, which is at present supported by several solicitors, and gave an interesting account of the work done there."

This is a very good notion. Young ladies are generally fond of writing. Employed in lawyers' offices they will turn to profitable account a propensity which now merely wastes ink and paper. The female copying clerk, who supports herself by her quill, will no longer pen a billet4 when she should engross. Some caution must be exercised by the solicitor's official handmaiden lest she should, at first starting, spoil some quantity of sheepskin. She should beware of underlining not only words and sentences which are by no means emphatic, but also of underscoring any words whatever, and if she has a long deed to draw up, she must mind not to cross it. These and a few other caveats being observed, legal engrossing may doubtless suit a young lady as well as the at least equally engrossing care of a family.

The next notion is sufficiently reasonable :—

" Mr. Hastings spoke of printing as peculiarly well adapted for women, and read a paper contributed by Miss Emily Faithfull5, on, the introduction of women into the printing trades."

There is more pie capable of affording employment to ladies' fingers than that which is usually associated with pudding. Milliners6 are accustomed to the making up of caps and bonnets, but there are caps7, if not bonnets, in a printing-office, which the fair sex might set up as well as those that they are accustomed to construct of lace and artificial flowers; they might compose both small caps and large caps in books, if not in book-muslin. Authors will generally be in favour of a change which will occasionally afford them visits from the printer’s angel- angelic visits not too few and far between.

A gentleman instrumentally indicated a void in female education which might be advantageously filled :—

" Mr. Mackenzie read a paper by Miss J. Boucherett8 on book-keeping stating that a want of knowledge of accounts was one great reason of the disinclination to employ women in shops, showing how they might be fitted for the offices of cashiers and bookkeepers, and announcing that a school to supply these deficiencies have been opened by the Society."

Marble and chalk being essentially the same substance, except that the former excels the latter in density, there is every reason to hope that due education would soon convert the marble brow of Beauty into a good "chalk head9." A little of that attention to arithmetic which girls are accustomed to devote to their figures, would soon qualify them for a seat on the highest stool, or a position behind the counter of a first-rate banking establishment whence on returning home the fair cashier, if musical, might sit down to her piano and sing, "I Know a Bank10" to the no small comfort of her family.

We see also that—

" Vice-chancellor Wood spoke of other occupations for women, and recommended they should be employed as clerks in post-offices, and as managers of hotels, as hair-dressers, &c."

Very good. The occupation of hair-dresser in particular is onepeculiarly suitable to young persons of the gentler sex. Their fingers are much better adapted to the scissors than those of the male fist, and especially to scissors in relation to the gentleman's real head of hair or peruke

11, whether visible or invisible. There are cases, however, in which the customer might be disposed to practise retaliation to the extent of a curl, on the head of a ministering Belinda, or rather, perhaps, we may say Barbara, by the leave of Joe Miller. If young ladies very generally take to the hair-dressing line, it may be apprehended that the Swells and Nobs12, and the Nobs of Swells, -will go extensively cropped.

 

 

1  The male head of a family or household.     

 

 

                                                                                

2  Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, was a philanthopist and politician who worked to help pass legislation reforming working conditions and other social reforms.

 

3 See "Further Discussion" below for more information on issues surrounding female employment.

  

 

 

 

 

4 An informal letter or note.

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

5 Emily Faithful was a member of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women and a women's rights activist.  She also founded The Victoria Press in 1860, the same year of this publication.

 

6 A designer or maker of women's hats.

 

7  Word play on "caps".  Here the author is referring to the caps of the printing press, or capital letters.

 

 

   

8 This refers to Emilia Jessie Boucherett who was a promoter of women's rights.  In 1859, she helped create the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women.  See further discussion below for more information on this society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 According to OED, "a good head for chalking scores" which refers to keeping track of credit (account balances) at alehouses.

 

10 A popular composition written by Charles Edward Horn for The Merry Wives of Windsor (1823).

 

 

 

11 A small wig, similar to a toupee.

 

 

 

 

12 Swells and Nobs: both of these words have multiple meanings and slang meanings at this time, the following definitions are from the OED:

 

Swells: 

    1. A fashionably or stylishly dressed person, a person of good social position.

    2.  Someone who is clever or good at something.

 

Nobs:

    1. A person of some wealth or social distinction.

    2. The head.


So with these definitions, it appears to state: If they take to hair-dressing, it may be conceived of that the fashionable and weathy and the heads of the succesful will be cut short.


 .

 

 

 

References from annotations (listed according to note number):

 

1.      OED Online. June 2003. Oxford University Press. 15 Feb 2009.  <http://dictionary.oed.com>

2.      “Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of Shaftesbury.” The Victorian Web. <http://www.victorianweb.org/history/shaftesb.html> 17 Feb. 2009.

4.      OED Online. June 2003. Oxford University Press. 15 Feb 2009.  <http://dictionary.oed.com>

5.      "Emily Faithful." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 17 Feb 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Feb. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Faithfull>

6.      OED Online. June 2003. Oxford University Press. 15 Feb 2009.  <http://dictionary.oed.com>

8.      "Jessie Boucherett." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 Sept. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Feb. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Boucherett >

9.      OED Online. June 2003. Oxford University Press. 15 Feb 2009.  <http://dictionary.oed.com>

10.“Charles Edward Horn.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 25 May. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 Feb. 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Edward_Horn>

11.   OED Online. June 2003. Oxford University Press. 15 Feb 2009.  <http://dictionary.oed.com>

12.  OED Online. June 2003. Oxford University Press. 15 Feb 2009.  <http://dictionary.oed.com>

 

 

 

 

Further Discussion: 

 

 

While the “woman question” can be found throughout the Victorian period in England, the year the article “Work for Woman” was published in Punch found heightened feminist activities regarding finding employment for women.  According to Mary Lyndon Shanley, the defeat of the married women’s property bill of 1856 led to a feminist concentration on “increasing women’s opportunities for education and employment” (49).   During the ten years following this act, a multitude of organizations and publications quickly emerged, including: the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, the Workhouse Visiting Society, the Female Class Emigration Society, the English Woman’s Journal, and the Victoria Magazine, just to name a few (49).

 

 

Punch’s article “Work for Woman” was published right in the middle of this feminist employment frenzy, making it a very timely satire to an issue that was obviously in public awareness.  Furthermore, the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women argued that “there were many previously male occupations where young women would make suitable employees” (Jordan 170).  These issues and events are central to Punch’s satirical depiction of an argument for work for women.  The article states, “under these circumstances there has been formed a Society for the Employment of Women,” which is so close to the name of the real organization, Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, that was only founded months before this article, it is hard to believe that anyone reading “Work for Woman” would not immediately associate this article as a direct humorous attack on the real society.  The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women primarily worked with middle-class women to expand their employment opportunities beyond what had previously been deemed acceptable.  They eventually moved women into fields similar to those discussed in this article such as book-keeping and law copying (Perkin 166).

 

 

With this contextual information, it stands to reason that the careers that Punch brought up throughout this article were, in fact, employments being discussed as potential areas for women to venture into by the feminist groups and publications.  However, the reasons this article puts forth as to why young women are suitable for these professions is both the joke and the satirical stab at these arguments.  “Work for Woman” makes the idea of women finding employment in these jobs ridiculous through its descriptions of young women and their skills.

 

 

The first employment for discussion in the article is that of the copying clerk, who would transcribe legal documents.  The profession is stated as acceptable for women since they are “fond of writing.”  The image of the Victorian woman writing in her library or sitting room certainly fit into the acceptable activities for the middle-class woman, however the idea of the same writing skills used in a law office is thoroughly ridiculed presenting a woman’s writing as trivial and emotional.  The author of this article brings a woman’s emotionality into question stating that she must not underline words so to express herself in a legal document.  Also, there seems to be an issue of that a woman could not write without error, as she might “spoil some quantity of sheepskin.”  As satire, the article only brings up the argument against women finding employment in such fields through giving “advice” to the woman who might work in this job, but the humor (and opinion) is quite clear.

 

 

The author then moves on to working in printing.  Here, instead of poking fun at current female pastimes, he compares it to a field in which women already find employment – making women’s hats.  This section is full of puns on words, speaking of caps as both capital letters in a typeset and the caps that Milliners design, and book-muslin as the fabric they may “compose” these new caps in.  The following two suggestions of cashier and hairdresser also contain quite a few puns and plays on words to invoke a sense of ridiculousness at these feminist ideas of employment for women, from stereotypes of a woman’s “marble” brow to her small hand size, as arguments for why those professions would indeed suit these women.  By making absurd arguments through wordplay and stereotypes the article aims to be a humorous commentary on the feminist arguments and organizations that were gaining attention and numbers.

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Jordan, Ellen. The Women’s Movement and Women’s Employment in Nineteenth Century Britain.  London: Routledge, 1999.

Perkin, Joan. Victorian Women. New York: New York University Press, 1995.

Shanley, Mary Lyndon. Feminism, Marriage, and the Law in Victorian England, 1850-1895. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993.

 

 

Wiki article by: Sarah Karlis - LITR 565 - Winter 2009

 

Comments (2)

Adam Mitchell said

at 9:38 pm on Mar 1, 2009

Underneath the humor here though is plenty of anxiety over those feminist groups "gaining attention and numbers." Hence the patronizing beginning: "What are we to do with our your women?" The question is not what will our young women do? Or what kind of work will women find? Rather, we begin with the patronizing notion that we must do something with our women. The anxiety comes from the notion that there could ever be a social order in which we (men) didn't make choices for women.

lilac3891@... said

at 12:15 am on Mar 2, 2009

I think it is interesting that the article starts off that way too! (Referring to Adam's comment above) It is written as though women are a nuisance, something to be handled. When the job of clerk is suggested that a women could support herself “by her quill”, this shows us that women authors were not widely accepted. The only reference to a woman writing is to the letters that women write where they underline to show emphasis (something that they must unlearn to be a clerk).
When the job of cashier is mentioned, the author spends more time discussing the appearance of looking like a cashier, and being able to sing songs about the job, then he does discussing the actually fulfillment of the position. A comment directed at how women were viewed- not by the qualifications but by their appearance. I am surprised at the sarcasm attached to the hairdressing line of work. I would have thought this would be a position that society would be comfortable allowing women to work in. However, the joke is that the hair cuts will all become crops, due to the women’s inability to cut hair.
It surprised me that governesses and teachers were not mentioned. These also see clear of the jobs of housekeepers, maids, and other servant jobs. Was it because those were “normal” womanly jobs and were “acceptable positions” where these other ones were not?

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