Women Over 40 Rock!

Many of us are having a hard time recovering from the fact that we won’t have a female president in 2009. So, I think it is good to reflect on how far we’ve come. Let’s look back to 1943 - when your mother or grandmother might have worked for the first time at a job outside of her home. During WWII, women entered the workplace in droves, and special guidelines were written for male supervisors. My sister emailed an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of “Transportation Magazine” which spells out tips for male supervisors to help them get the most productivity from female employees. Some of the tips are quaint, some laughable but all reflect the paternalism of the time. And as my husband commented, these tips sound more like they’re dealing with a pack of dogs rather than a group of women.

“Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they’re less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn’t be doing it. They have the pep and interest to work hard.” In other words, you’ll get more out of peppy married women, who need a job. And let’s face it; single girls are more interested in finding a sailor, chewing gum and listening to Frank Sinatra than learning anything about rivets.

“When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy.” Cantankerous and fussy?! Darn right that’s how you’d feel because your superiors preferred a young, pretty woman and had to settle for the likes of you. It’s in the phrase, “if you have to use older women.”

“General experience indicates the ‘husky’ girls – those who are just a little on the heavy side – are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.” The dog analogy hits home – those huskies are better workers than the high strung skinny runts.

“Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination – one covering female conditions. This step not only protects against possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has a female weakness which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.” A “special” exam? What exactly does that mean? What about the female condition would make you mentally unfit? Cramps? Fits of the vapors? I’m surprised a fainting couch isn’t suggested as part of the décor.

“Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so they’ll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them but lack initiative in finding work themselves.” Lack of initiative?! Most households in the ‘40’s were run by women who had the work ethic of successful managers. No one gave mothers of that era a master plan for running their households and yet most ran like smooth machines. At my house, every night a home-cooked dinner, including a dessert, was ready at 5:30. Toni Home Permanents happened every 6 months, uniform blouses were ironed everyday, furniture and floors were always spotless, and hands were never idle. My mother, like most women of that generation, had plenty of initiative but the work of housewives was truly under-valued.

“Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.” Yep, there’s nothing like a fresh coat of lipstick to keep you going. Notice when talking about rest and lipstick the workers are called girls.

“Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can’t shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman – it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.” Implied is that you can’t get much work out of someone who is whimpering or sulking all day. But it’s okay to ridicule a man because they’re tough and they can take it. Plus men don’t have feelings. Yeah, right.

“Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl’s husband or father may swear vociferously, she’ll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.” Actually this tip was probably excellent advice. My mother at 92 might have said damn 3 or 4 times in her life. After uttering such a terrible word she’d turn bright red and then break into a fit of giggles.

“Get enough size variety in operator’s uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can’t be stress too much in keeping women happy.” Oh yeah, nothing makes a girl (or her boss!) happier than a nice form-fitting uniform.

Yes, there’s a lot of work yet to be done. But to go from these attitudes a mere 65 years ago to having a woman as a serious contender for President, says to me we have a lot to be proud of.

Jan Bina, blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website Celebrating the Power and the Beauty of Women Over 40