eers in nontraditional work, as opposed to the so-called "pink collar" jobs that do not pay as well or have as much authority. Among the barriers women face are harassment and isolation on the job, difficulties with dependent care, problems with transportation, and the lack of tools and equipment properly sized for women in some jobs. The social role that has been traditional for women creates expectations which mitigate against women in business--women are expected to marry and be dependent on the male; they are expected to stay home and care for the family; they are expected to be submissive rather than assertive and so embody values not prized in business.
This was precisely the sort of attitude that prevailed in the 1930s, when jobs for women were found primarily in sales, service, and secretarial roles. The role of women in American society was conditioned by religious attitudes and by the conditions of life that prevailed through much of American history. The culture of Europe and America was based for centuries on a patriarchal system in which exclusive ownership of the female by a given male was considered important, with the result that women were relegated to the role of property with no voice in their own fate. Clearly, circumstances of family life have changed in the modern era. Industry has been taken out of the home, and large families are no longer economically possible or socially desired. The home is no longer the center of the husband's life, and for the traditional wife there is only a narrowing of interests and possibilities for development. Much of this shift may have begun in the years of World War II.
Gluck discusses the way America was constituted as the war began and notes immediately that many attitudes prevailing then would have to change before the war would end:
The Depression Era retreat to traditional values, with their emphasis on domestic life, could no longer sustain people nor pr...