Since 1996, advocates for women’s rights have observed “equal pay days” annually to highlight the persistent gender pay gap, notwithstanding the increasing educational opportunities and achievements of women in the workplace. This year, the date of Tuesday, March 12, signifies the disparity — or the point in 2024 by which a woman working full-time would have earned the same amount as a man working the same hours did in 2023. On average, women still earn only 84 cents for every dollar men make, with the discrepancy being even more pronounced for women of color. (For Native women, their equal pay day won’t occur until November 21.) These statistics do not include the unpaid domestic and caregiving labor that women continue to disproportionately shoulder.
The issue of how women’s labor is valued lies at the core of a new exhibition curated at the Center for Women’s History at the New York Historical Society. The exhibition, titled Women’s Work (open through August 27), provides a comprehensive examination of women’s labor in New York over the past 300 years. It presents a diverse view of women's experiences, challenging the stereotypes associated with the term “women’s work.”
While women have historically engaged in labor typically associated with men, such as pursuing entrepreneurial careers, the unpaid and paid work of caring for children, the sick, and the elderly, as well as domestic work, has long been linked to women. This has been especially true for Black women, both before and after emancipation. Even as social norms for elite women dictated that their place was in the home, enslaved and indentured women were coerced into unpaid labor within those very homes. Following the legal end of slavery, Black women were pressured to perpetuate this dynamic due to vagrancy laws and limited alternative opportunities in the face of continued segregation and gender and racial discrimination.
Conversely, assumptions about women’s alleged natural inclination for caregiving allowed some women to enter newly established professions, such as teaching during the 19th century. However, they were often paid lower wages in these traditionally female-dominated professions compared to male-dominated fields. An 1846 editorial in Godey’s Lady’s Book exemplifies why teaching has long been considered women's work, suggesting that "school-keeping" was a natural extension of women's "influence in the nursery." This viewpoint ultimately led to the majority of the nation's teachers being women by the 1880s; today, that number remains over 75%.
The entry of women into the field of medicine followed a similar trend, as efforts to professionalize nursing in the late 19th century often excluded women of color. However, World War I saw a surge in the number of nurses, although they were predominantly volunteers without formal training. Furthermore, Black women faced racial discrimination that restricted their employment opportunities.
The exhibit also highlights the gendered assumptions that enabled some opportunities for women while simultaneously limiting their professional advancement and pay. For instance, the life of Louisa Lee Schuyler illustrates how gendered assumptions allowed some doors for women to open, even as they restrained their professional advancement and earning potential.
Despite the professionalization of certain careers associated with women's caregiving roles, not all women reaped the benefits. The realities of racial discrimination and exploitative labor conditions, particularly for women of color, persisted, with organizations perpetuating these dynamics under the guise of aid. These historical dynamics continue to influence contemporary society, particularly in professions like teaching and caregiving roles, where women, especially women of color, are still undervalued.
The current imbalance in work, whether paid or unpaid and the disproportionate responsibilities taken on by women, became glaringly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, as women had to manage increased household and childcare responsibilities, in addition to the greater demands from professional and informal care work. This underscores the essential nature of women's work and its significant contribution to the economy and human survival.
The Women’s Work exhibition seeks to shed light on the unequal valuation of women’s labor, especially when it involves care, and particularly when performed by women of color. It concludes with a thought-provoking question: What would it look like to truly value women’s work?