Jobs/ Education
In the 1800's women were expected to take care of the domestic duties left to them by their husbands, like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. However, many women needed to juggle a job and the household chores, because their husbands don't bring in enough money. Women also got a job because it offered some freedom and independence. Lower - class women were allowed to get a few minor jobs such as servant, domestic help, factory worker, prostitute, laundress, seamstress, nurse, midwife, and dressmakers. The middle - and upper - class could occasionally help with the family business or become a governess, which most women avoided. Many women also found work in journalism.
Jobs also varied depending on North or South. For example, a Southern middle - or - upper class girl would be pampered until she was married, at which point her life would turn up-side down, and she would take over the responsibilities of a slave plantation. These responsibilities included being a nurse to the slaves, making their clothes, overseeing the food preparation, and supervising work plans. She would also tend to a small garden and some chickens, but she wouldn't do the domestic chores.
Women were allowed to get an education and to study, however, any serious study, unless it was social, religious or pertaining to herself, was considered harmful to the family. Physicians believed that if a woman became too educated, her uterus would warp and she would become infertile.
Jobs also varied depending on North or South. For example, a Southern middle - or - upper class girl would be pampered until she was married, at which point her life would turn up-side down, and she would take over the responsibilities of a slave plantation. These responsibilities included being a nurse to the slaves, making their clothes, overseeing the food preparation, and supervising work plans. She would also tend to a small garden and some chickens, but she wouldn't do the domestic chores.
Women were allowed to get an education and to study, however, any serious study, unless it was social, religious or pertaining to herself, was considered harmful to the family. Physicians believed that if a woman became too educated, her uterus would warp and she would become infertile.