As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The women know that life must go on and that the needs of life must be met and it is their courage and determination which, time and again, have pulled us through worse crises than the present one” (BBC). The 1930’s had major effects on the women of the time. Suddenly women were employed, minorities had it harder than ever before, and the gap between rural and urban life widened.
For perhaps the first time in the 1930’s women were present in the workplace. Families needed more money to make ends meet during the Great Depression. In 1930, about 11 million women were employed; and by 1940, 13 million women were employed. Seventy-five percent of professional women were either nurses or schoolteachers (University of West …show more content…
Sister Berenice Beck broke through Marquette’s glass ceiling in 1936 when she was named dean of nursing, the first female academic dean. A woman could now not only get an education but be leaders in education as well.
In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the only female character in the novel is treated as her husband 's property. She doesn 't have a name, she is only knows as “Curley 's wife”. Her only role in life is to be a good wife, cook, clean, and stay loyal to her spouse. This highlights the life of women living in rural areas in 1930’s. She doesn 't have the opportunity to be employed or make a difference. She is a women trapped and abused, demonstrating how many women lived before the social, political , and social advancements made in the future.
“Forced to take on even more important roles in their homes and families, women played often unrecognized roles in helping the country through the Great Depression” (A&E Television Networks). Women of the 1930’s took on new roles they have never had and changed the perception of women for generations to come all while surviving the Great