Sex-Segregated Jobs, Capitol Switchboard, Washington, D.C. (1959) 1514782800

Sex-Segregated Jobs, Capitol Switchboard, Washington, D.C. (1959)

"While ads for men promised family-supporting wages, opportunities for women tended to involve low-level office work. One call for a “Jill of All Trades” attempted to entice applicants with the suggestion that “occasional overtime at time & ½ will help fill your ‘Piggy Bank.’”

"Lesser remuneration and condescension toward pay equity was not the only issue. Ads targeting women often specified the need for applicants to be “attractive” and “well-groomed,” and they emphasized qualities such as “a pleasant phone personality.” Moreover, although racially segregated ads were banned in 1965, papers maintained separate sections for “domestic female” help that were widely understood as targeting African-American women—an indication that racial and sexual discrimination continued to go hand in hand."

Excerpt from "Help Wanted - Female" by Laura Tanenbaum and Mark Engler. August 30, 2017. The New Republic.

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Trikosko, Marion S. [Women working at the U.S. Capitol switchboard, Washington, D.C.] January 27, 1959. Negative. Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ds.04925/ (Accessed August 8, 2018).