Working Women And Leisure In Turn-Of-The-Century, By Kathy Peiss

Women throughout history always had the role of a housewife. Their husbands were the breadwinners and the women’s job was to take care of the kids, cook, clean, and other household chores. This was what they would generally do on a day to day basis, they never went out to engage in what we now-a-days consider enjoyable doings like going out with friends, going out for a couple drinks, or simply roaming the streets. Kathy Peiss in her writing Cheap Amusements Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York, argues that in order to understand the construction of gender, one must understand how working women introduced new manners not solely by participating in activities that were once viewed as unacceptable (like going out, meeting

Through movies people were able to see how the old image of women changed into this new image of women. Movie manufacturers and exhibitors changed the way movies were portrayed before and amped up the glamour, sensations, and romance (Peiss 153). This deviant behavior was being shown through movies, films that at this time a lot of people went to watch during free time. There were attempts by reformers like the Young Women’s Christian Association to keep these ‘rebels’ in line with old fashioned teachings (Peiss 166) but it didn’t seem to appeal to the middle-class female culture that was now shaped into this new idea of women. Their idea of culture was a lot different than these reformers. To these young ladies, recreating meant street life, cheap theaters, dance halls, mingling with the opposite sex, no presence of chaperons, and other “non-respectable” doings. Lilian Betts mentions an encounter with this new idea of women from a main club. “The last named were rough in speech and manner, and far from stylish in dress-the standard of the elder club” (Peiss 173-174). What Lilian believes to be deviant behavior is now something being widely learned by the younger generations and will continue for years on after. Women are sticking to their desire for freedom and this behavior is making its way into schools as well. Investigators saw this deviant behavior while at P.S. 63. One investigator states “I visited this school where a dance was going on. About fifty young couples were dancing, among boys and girls in age of 12 or 14 years. Most of them didn’t behave, they were using vile language, smoking cigarettes and shimmying while dancing…It is rendezvous for young men and young girls, who come here purposely to pick each other up” (Peiss 183). This idea of the ‘new women’ is now not only present on the streets, or amongst friends, but in schools