For years women have tried to overcome the sexist barriers of society. The industrialization of the United States opened a window of opportunity for women. The increased availability of jobs required fulfillment. Men could no longer fill all of the jobs available. Women became the answers. Females worked hard to make a living for themselves. Yet, the burdens that they encountered were gruesome. Women were not viewed as equal counterparts to men. They fought for equal rights and a chance to succeed. What is it that is holding women back from their hard earned equality to men? Women are held down because of concepts like the glass ceiling, sexual harassment, and the second shift, not because of their knowledge.
The feminization of labor started during the earliest phases of industrialization. The transformation into an urban economy from a rural one opened a new time for women's work.1 The products that women produced at home were now being produced in factories. "As the demands for goods increased, however, home production declined and gave way to the factory system, which was more efficient in meeting emerging needs."2 However, men and women had distinctively separate roles. Men provided for the family and women took care of the family. The industrial revolution established social and economic conditions for women, which satisfied society's expectations.3 Society viewed women as weak, delicate, and subservient to their husbands. Beauty defined the value of women. The exclusion of women from the work force was justified by biological differences. "It was believed they [women] lacked strength and stamina, that their brains were small, that the feminine perspective and sensitivity were liabilities in the marketplace."4 However, during the early years of industrialization, men focused on farm work. Therefore, the demand for factory workers increased. Thus, a slow but steady inclusion of women in the work force took place.