Uniformity and diversity : a case study of female shop and office workers in Victoria, 1880 to 1939

Abstract

Paid shop and office work in Victoria feminized between 1880 and 1939. The majority of workers were men in 1880 while the majority were women by 1939. But female labour did not simply replace male labour. There were changes within the sexual divisions as much as between them. While gender did divide the labour market, it was not the only division. As various groups of women were progressively employed in the shop and office sector, the jobs they performed were recast. At the same time, different groups of men were recruited and the nature of the jobs they filled changed. The feminization process involved transformations in work and workers. The theories usually employed to describe and explain feminization cannot adequately account for these developments in Victoria. They emphasize the uniformity of female labour. This thesis questions such homogenization theories as proletarianization, patriarchal state structuralism, reserve army of labour, and scientific management. It points to differentiation along many axes as changes in recruits' marital status, age and socio-educational backgrounds are examined. At the same time, I argue that while transformation in workers has been overlooked, transformation in work has been exaggerated. Most shop and office workers in Victoria in 1939 worked in small workplaces not dissimilar to the 1880s. The polarization of workplaces is another aspect of diversity. In brief, I have studied the processes which segmented, not unified, the retail and clerical workforces. Show more