The model of the new women stems from the early twentieth century, where women started to transmute. Working outside of the home for women was never a norm before the late 1800s.Their duties were homebased, while the men were the providers and supporters. Women were very dependent on women for security, while taking care of the children and home duties, such as cooking and cleaning. When the economy started to change, between 1870 and 1920, around 63% of women begun to work outside of their homes. The increase of wages during this time allowed women to support themselves economically and open the flood gates to more independence for women (Cutter 1).The women in poems such as; “Living in Sin” by Adrienne Rich, “What’s That Smell In The Kitchen”
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These women were independent and not pressured to marry early, which presented their lack of dependency on men. Rich showed the characteristics of a new woman in, “Living in Sin”, where a woman lived with her partner, unmarried, expecting this man to bring excitement and experience to her life, only to be let down by her realities. “She had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love” (Rich, 1950). Men no longer filled these women’s need and this can also be demonstrated in Piercy’s poem, “What’s That Smell in The Kitchen”. One line from the poem the woman said “once I was roast duck on a platter with parsley but now I am Spam” (Piercy, 1936). This line the women is describing to her husband how in the past he cherished her and treated her as if she was roast duck on a platter, but now he treats her as if she is the las thing he would eat, spam. Unlike the woman in Rich’s poem, Piercy’s female figure was married but felt ignored and unappreciated by her husband. Women felt they were doing so much for these men but so little for themselves, and this is what created the new woman, who didn’t view becoming a homemaker as her
These women were independent and not pressured to marry early, which presented their lack of dependency on men. Rich showed the characteristics of a new woman in, “Living in Sin”, where a woman lived with her partner, unmarried, expecting this man to bring excitement and experience to her life, only to be let down by her realities. “She had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love” (Rich, 1950). Men no longer filled these women’s need and this can also be demonstrated in Piercy’s poem, “What’s That Smell in The Kitchen”. One line from the poem the woman said “once I was roast duck on a platter with parsley but now I am Spam” (Piercy, 1936). This line the women is describing to her husband how in the past he cherished her and treated her as if she was roast duck on a platter, but now he treats her as if she is the las thing he would eat, spam. Unlike the woman in Rich’s poem, Piercy’s female figure was married but felt ignored and unappreciated by her husband. Women felt they were doing so much for these men but so little for themselves, and this is what created the new woman, who didn’t view becoming a homemaker as her