LIT 3380 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Labour Power, Sough, Hewer
29 Feb 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Tension between men and employers, conflicting interest over the use of women"s labor power. Industrial capitalism is gender blind in its use of labor in that women and children were part of the labor force too. Women were cheap competition to men in the work force. Coalmining concerns the threat posed by women workers to male wage levels. Capitalism sough the cheaper labor by women and children. But there were sexual divisions in the workforce, men and women didn"t do the same jobs. Humphries challenged the cogency (power to compel or constrain) of patriarchy. Opposition of the working men to their wives" work not only came from threat in the wage levels but because there wasn"t anyone to do the housework and the wife who worked at home was more dependent and manageable. Women and children working did contribute to breakdown of family life. Family system of labor allowed for exploitation and management by the employer.
