Women of the Mills

Blog Post # 2: Attitudes Towards Women:

Up until the first Industrial Revolution, attitudes towards women had always been the same. Generations upon generations passed down a then commonly known yet utterly false belief that women were second-class citizens. They were thought to be useless outside of the kitchen, and many had this idea that their main purpose was to reproduce. But, the Industrial Revolution offered opportunity for women to change those attitudes. Through the encouragement for women to join the workforce they were given a voice, and given a chance to be independent from men. Although the Industrial Revolution didn't make any huge improvements to the way they were treated, it was a starting point for many women's rights activists, and foundation of the women's rights movement.

As mill-work was the first time women were actually encouraged to join the workforce, of course many jumped at the opportunity. But there was a price to pay for this new treatment. Although women working was a sign that society had finally started to consider them as equal, it also left a lot of opportunity for men to treat them as harshly as they had before. They knew that women would put up with bad treatment because of their new dependence on their jobs to support themselves. With this knowledge, they provided little pay and unfit working and living conditions for the women, knowing they would put up with it because they needed jobs.

There were benefits to mill work too, but they are sparse compared to the cons of working in a mill.
Even though mill work received little pay, it still was a way for a woman to provide money for herself and family. Learning the trade of millworker was also beneficial for women later on in life because it gave them a way to make money as a seamstress and be independent if they never married and needed to provide for themselves.

The treatment women received in the mills really just emphasized that although men and society still thought of them as lower, they were no longer considered to be as completely useless as they had
previously been. Through the Industrial Revolution women found that because they were a part of the workforce they had a voice, and they started to actually stand up for themselves. When their pay was cut they protested and went to strike; standing up for themselves and their rights as citizens. These protests and strikes started the idea that women weren't going to put up with unfair treatment the way they always had, and events like that from the Lowell Experiment were the foundation for the women's rights movement.