The White Blouse Revolution: Heroic and Anti-heroic Interpretations of the Feminization of Work

Abstract

There is a growing debate in the historiography between what could be described as heroic and anti-heroic interpretations of the feminisation of work. At issue is whether a paid labour paradise was won or lost for women at the turn of the century and the state's role in its development. Early feminists took pride in the opening up of respectable employment avenues for women. At the turn of the century, womenwere restricted to a narrow band of occupations, particularly domestic service and manufacturing; that is, they were horizontally segregated in the workforce by occupation. Reformers sought to win opportunities for women in the expansion of lower white collar employment and were optimistic about their long-term prospectsin this sector and feminisation was striking. The number of women in commerce doubled between 1891 and 1911. Most of the increase occurred in the 1890s, a period of economic depression. While the proportion of women grew from approximately one-tenth to one-fifth of employees in commerce in the 1890s, commerce as a proportion of all breadwinners only increased from 13.8% to 15.9% between 1891 and 1911...