In her book, In Pursuit of Equity, Kessler-Harris points out that men have always considered work as a measure of their manhood, and that at the turn of the century, many felt this sphere of their life being threatened by entrpreneurial opportunities, and the changing workplace (Kessler-Harris 22). This has led to gender bias against women in the workplace and in social policy in the United States which still exists today. Kessler-Harris believes it is driven by men's overriding belief that work is their ideological milieu and the home and family duties are that of women. Men organized collectively to defend their right to work, their conception of the male role in society, while the woman's role was at home taking care of the family. The only women who worked were slaves: free women did not work outside the home. In the early part of the 20th century, there were working class women who worked until they got married, and some who had to work afterwards to help support the family, but none had ambitions of careers in the way men had. Middle and upper class women ceded any thought of a career to women who had to work, and carried out the role of the dutiful housewife and mother (24).
Ida Tarbell, the most successful female journalist of her time, noted in a five-part series of women's job possibilities in industry that there were so few women in executive positions that it was inferred they were not suitable for supervisory positions (Kessler-Harris 54). An ad in 1930 by Sears was entitles Sears Jobs for Sears Men, and promised maximum opportunities for self-improvement and maximum opportunities for promotion for men of ambition, clearly indicating they were not even considering employing women. The depression made it even harder for women to secure jobs because it was felt that only those who were single or supporting a family should be working (56-57). Again, the gender bias came into play for working married women.
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