Difference between revisions of "Week 13-14 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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I also thought it was really interesting that Dorthea Dix wanted women between the age of 30-50. I agree with Erin that women probably had to be atleast 30 because it would be seen as inappropriate for a younger women to be working with men. I think that Dix extended the age to 50 because there were probably a lot of widows in their 40's. I thought the requirement that the women be plain looking was funny, but I guess it makes sense. If the nurse was too good looking, the patients would probably be hitting on her all day long. On the other hand, if the patients had not been able to pay for prostitutes, they probably would be hitting on their nurses even if they were "plain looking". -Katelyn Lease | I also thought it was really interesting that Dorthea Dix wanted women between the age of 30-50. I agree with Erin that women probably had to be atleast 30 because it would be seen as inappropriate for a younger women to be working with men. I think that Dix extended the age to 50 because there were probably a lot of widows in their 40's. I thought the requirement that the women be plain looking was funny, but I guess it makes sense. If the nurse was too good looking, the patients would probably be hitting on her all day long. On the other hand, if the patients had not been able to pay for prostitutes, they probably would be hitting on their nurses even if they were "plain looking". -Katelyn Lease | ||
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| + | Before reading about Louisa May Alcott, I never realized how hard it was for female nurses. Not only did they have to endure the casualties of war, taking care of gravely wounded soldiers, but they had to travel long distances to do their work. Louisa May Alcott originally lived in Concord but left to move to Georgetown to work as a nurse. At 30 years old, I wonder if she had other options she could have considered before becoming a nurse. Was becoming a nurse a last resort or was it something she had wanted to do forever? It was interesting to see how positive Alcott was, despite all the broken men she met through her job. She claimed to "find pleasure" in her job, working with the soldiers and "cheering these poor souls." It amazed me that someone could be so positive in the midst of such sad circumstances. I feel like the fact that many nurses became sick and sometimes died is ironic because they would give up everything they had to work as nurses, yet they ended up suffering more than being rewarded for what they did. --- Alex Mankarios | ||
== Mary Livermore, [Northern women on farm during war], 1890 -- Woloch and Major Problems readings. == | == Mary Livermore, [Northern women on farm during war], 1890 -- Woloch and Major Problems readings. == | ||
