I Stand Here Ironing By Tillie Olsen

“In 1960 the world of American women was limited in almost every respect, from family life to the workplace. A woman was expected to follow one path: to marry in her early 20s, start a family quickly and devote her life to home making” (tavaana.org). Although this lifestyle is hard to imagine now, feminist and activist, Tillie Olsen gives readers a look at life back then through the eyes of a “young, distracted” mother, a life very similar to her own. Written in 1961 “I stand here ironing” invites readers to examine the challenges of the narrator, a mother who was unable to provide her children “the soil of easy growth”. Taking place in “the pre-relief, pre-WPA world of the depression” it is important to note the historical events surrounding

The tale begins when a person, presumably Emily’s guidance counselor, calls the narrator and asks for her help in understanding her daughter. The narrator insists she is not “the key” to her daughter and admits she has no insight on her child. This question however, leads the narrator to try to answer the unknown caller’s request in an attempt to “total it all”. Emily is described as “a beautiful baby” repeatedly by the mother who tells of her “new-loveliness” as a newborn. It is mentioned that Emily was breastfed, perhaps to show that the narrator had good intentions towards her daughter. Despite those intentions, she was forced to leave Emily with unpleasant care takers and even a convalescent home for extended amounts of time while she looked for work, was focused on other children or was simply unable to care for her. She became a single mother when Emily’s father could “no longer endure” and left while Emily was still an infant. The physical distance between the mother and daughter created a much deeper distance emotionally. The story moves on to describe Emily’s childhood pain, growth into a school comedian and her lack of affection towards her mother and other siblings.. The story ends with the narrator asking the unknown caller to “let her be” but also to help her understand “that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the

It wasn’t until several years after 1960 that the first form of oral birth control was approved for all women. “In short, birth control meant women could complete her education, enter the work force and plan her own life” (CNN) This historical fact is relevant to story because, perhaps a method of contraception would have prevented the narrator from having an amount of children she could not readily provide for. “I was working, there were four little ones now”. The narrator was “distracted” and since Emily was the eldest, “She had to help be a mother, and housekeeper, and shopper”. The narrator recalls Emily’s role as a second mother while she worked various low-income jobs to provide for her family. “There was not time for her…There were other children pushing up and demanding”. It is safe to assume that if contraceptives were available as an option for women back then, the narrator would not have been able to better plan her life and would have been able to choose when she was ready for her family to grow. As for Emily, contraceptives would have prevented her having to take on a role she was not ready for and in the process being neglecting as a