Difference between revisions of "Week 4 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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Karin Wulf concludes her article by stating that "work", especially for women of 18th Century Philadelphia and other urban cities, became "an important source of personal and community identity." (p.103) She continues by arguing that many workers identified with their work, especially if it "enmeshed them in networks of obligation and association." I am wondering if a colonial woman's perception and close identification of her work as being related to her place in the larger community is resulting from a sense of wanting to feel "needed" by others, especially if the woman who was working (either outside or inside the home) was single or a widow. Perhaps work offered such women a means of fulfillment- a way to feel that they had an obligation and responsibility to fulfill to the larger community. I'm not sure if I am making much sense. I guess I am thinking that upon the death of their husbands, or if they were single and did not have any children, working allowed such women to feel that they were "needed" (I can't think of a better word)and could contribute to the community and society in their own way. I think exploring the emotions and motivations of the women to take up work would be very interesting, though probably difficult to research. -Allison Godart | Karin Wulf concludes her article by stating that "work", especially for women of 18th Century Philadelphia and other urban cities, became "an important source of personal and community identity." (p.103) She continues by arguing that many workers identified with their work, especially if it "enmeshed them in networks of obligation and association." I am wondering if a colonial woman's perception and close identification of her work as being related to her place in the larger community is resulting from a sense of wanting to feel "needed" by others, especially if the woman who was working (either outside or inside the home) was single or a widow. Perhaps work offered such women a means of fulfillment- a way to feel that they had an obligation and responsibility to fulfill to the larger community. I'm not sure if I am making much sense. I guess I am thinking that upon the death of their husbands, or if they were single and did not have any children, working allowed such women to feel that they were "needed" (I can't think of a better word)and could contribute to the community and society in their own way. I think exploring the emotions and motivations of the women to take up work would be very interesting, though probably difficult to research. -Allison Godart | ||
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| + | Karin Wulf describes how women made money despite the fact that they were not really to work the men were. Retailing was huge for women in colonial times. Wulf says that women could have made up half of the retailing business and I find that interesting because there are still more women in retail then there are men. I like how she pointed out that even rich widows worked shopkeepers at high end stores. Women from all social classes made money. Most women needed income after they became widows because their husbands did not leave them their entire inheritance. Most of that would go to there sons. I like this article because we are not taught that much about how women made money in colonial times. -LeAnn Taggart | ||
