1 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and you're listening to Stuff I've 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: Never told you m app the International Women's Day listeners, 3 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: which as of recording is taking place this week, but 4 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: with the magic of podcasting and scheduling and the Internet 5 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: being forever, you could be listening to this at any time. 6 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: I don't know, but it is this week as you 7 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: are listening to it drop as they say, and we 8 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: thought we would mark the occasion with this classic episode 9 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: about the holidays kind of surprising history. I hope you enjoy. 10 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff Mom Never told You from how stupp 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 12 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: Kristen and I'm Caroline, and we're recording this episode as 13 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: a celebration of International Women's Day. It happens every March eighth, 14 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: although I kind of feel like International Women's Day in 15 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: Galantine's Day should just be folded into the same February 16 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: thirteen celebration as long as it is still like really 17 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: cool and pro lady and pro awesome ladies, as opposed 18 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: to what Women's Day in Russia has become, which it 19 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: had such great strong political roots in Russia, and now 20 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: Women's Day is like this weird Valentine's Mother's Day saccharine 21 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: hybrid where and you're like, what's wrong with that? At 22 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: least take a candy. It's like, yeah, you get candy 23 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: and flowers, but it's in celebration of um, Like, how 24 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: sweet and sexy lady is not necessarily like go women. Yeah, 25 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: there was a really awkward photo that I've found of 26 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin handing bouquets of tulips to a group of 27 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: Russian women and he was almost smiling, but it just 28 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: did not look like a very celebratory affair. And only 29 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: smiles when he's riding bears shirtless in the wilderness exactly. Um. 30 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: But the looks on the women's faces said to me like, well, 31 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: here's this, here's bouquet. All right, this is all I'm getting. Well, 32 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: I mean there was I forget where I was reading 33 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: the article. It might have been in the Washington Post 34 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: or the Wall Street Journal, one of those really important 35 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: newspapers that I regularly read. Um, but are your name 36 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: dropping papers? Absolutely? J School nord Alert. But the reporter 37 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: was talking to younger women in Russia who are so 38 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: over International Women's Day because they're like, we would just 39 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: prefer maybe more rights, higher wages rather than flowers once 40 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: a year. Yeah. I like one idea in that article 41 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: that was quoted of how to celebrate Women's Day in 42 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: Russia was like, you know, just flowers and coffee won't do. Guys. 43 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: You know, maybe go on a car race with your lady, 44 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: but there is a dilemma when it comes to whether 45 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: she should be the driver or the navigator. Yikes. Yeah, okay, 46 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: so International Women's Day in Russia not so rad yet yet, 47 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: because we're going to talk to you about the secret 48 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: history of International Women's Day and how it came about 49 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: in the United States and why it is about so 50 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: much more than just posting of Instagram photos of rad ladies. 51 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: I mean, of course we'll probably post like some notorious 52 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: RBG photos things like that, but it's about so much 53 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: more than just oh oh women, you know, polite applause, 54 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: because the labor history behind it is I mean a 55 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: something that we don't hear about very often and be 56 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: something that does deserve our recognition, right because labor feminists, 57 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: so to speak, have really led the way in this 58 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: country for establishing the fight for rights and and at 59 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: one time for suffrage. Yeah, and in fact, international Women's 60 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: Day was inspired by female factory workers going on strike, 61 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: and like we said, it's definitely worth taking a look 62 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: at how all of that went down. And we're focusing 63 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: on the United States. I knew we were just talking 64 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: about Russia for a few minutes. We're coming back to 65 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: the United States, um partially to fill in this huge 66 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: gap in our history of labor organizing that we rarely 67 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: hear about. And uh, this info we're about to cover 68 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: is coming from articles from In These Times and Urbana 69 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: Champagne Independent Media Center. So when it comes to striking, 70 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: people have walked off their jobs in protest since the 71 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: medieval period. We've always been fed up with our horrible 72 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: bosses and walked out. But in terms of the organized 73 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: strikes as we think of them today, those didn't really 74 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: start until the early nineteenth century. And you know who 75 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: led the way, Caroline, women textile workers. I didn't even 76 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: wait for you to answer. I was so excited I 77 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: opened my mouth and then yes. And but of course 78 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: it was called turning out. At the time. They weren't striking, 79 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: they were turning out, which I like that. It's like 80 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: you're you're turning out in support of you know, like 81 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,679 Speaker 1: getting paid. Yeah, I feel like there's like a little 82 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: dance move that would go along with that, you know, 83 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: turn out, Yeah, a little hip swivel and sachet away. Yes. 84 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: Uh So in eight four, uh, you get America's first 85 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: textile mills, Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, which by 86 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: the way, is now a museum if you'd like to visit, 87 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: which absolutely I would never been to Rhode Island before anyway. 88 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: Slater Mill was the site of the first factory organized 89 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: strike in the United States, and it was initiated by 90 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: Kristen a bunch of angry women. True story. It was 91 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: also the first strike of any kind involving women, and originally, 92 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: which is horrifying, the mill owners hired children to run 93 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: the looms, but a bunch of new mechanization technology demanded 94 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: that you get a more skilled labor force, but they 95 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: still had to be cheap. So who's maybe a little taller, 96 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: but also as cheap as children at this time, A 97 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,280 Speaker 1: bunch of angry women, Yeah, exactly. So they bring these 98 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: ladies in and the owners assumed women are really just 99 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: tall children, so they will be very easy to control. Yeah, 100 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: we're not even being sarcastic listeners. A number of the 101 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: sources we were reading about Slater Mill and this historic 102 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: strike emphasized how the mill owners and managers were just 103 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: so perplexed when the women you know, revolted because they're 104 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: like but they we thought, oh, you're supposed to be 105 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: just tall children, um, And so they were wrong. They 106 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: were wrong. And one hundred and two women between the 107 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: ages of fifteen and thirty abandoned their textile looms to 108 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: protest a twenty five wage cut, and they went on strike, 109 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: and they won back a majority of their wage. And 110 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: this inspired future strikes around New England, including strikes organized 111 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: by those famous low Girls. Yeah, we could do an 112 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: entire podcast on the Lowell Girls, and I checked and 113 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in history class has not devoted a 114 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: podcast to the little girls that I know of. I 115 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: could be mistaken, um, but we should probably suggest it 116 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: to Tracy and Holly. But we're still going to talk 117 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: about him for a little bit because this provides such 118 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: important context to the environment leading up to International Women 119 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: Stay the founding of it. So in the eight twenties, Lowell, 120 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: Massachusetts is incorporated as a planned town for Textile Manufacturing, 121 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: which to me, sounds a lot like today's mixed use developments, 122 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: only without you know, like t J max Is and 123 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: any amenities. And okay, it's not like that at all. 124 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: It's it's kind of horrible. Um. But over the next 125 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: couple of decades, Lowell employed eight thousand mill operatives, as 126 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: they called them, and they were mostly like at Slater Mill, 127 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: they were mostly women and kids who would come in 128 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: from farming families in rural New England. And this employment, 129 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: of course offered a new kind of freedom, particularly for 130 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: the women, got them out of their house, but it 131 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: also stoked public fears about up ending gender roles and 132 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: family values, and some even considered it un virtuous to 133 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: be a factory girl. Yeah, this is definitely echoes and 134 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: shades of what we talked about our babysitting episode about 135 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: the the Advent of the teenager and how immediately there 136 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: were fears about what she was doing and who she 137 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: was doing it with. I mean, seriously, it's like, let's 138 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: get some cheap labor in here, and let's pay them, 139 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: but then we're going to be awfully scared about what 140 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: they're going to do with that money, exactly because wantonness 141 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: looms at the textile mills couldn't resist. I'm I'm actually 142 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: really sorry, but I mean it's not like they weren't unsupervised. 143 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,319 Speaker 1: All of these lowle mill operatives lived in factory and 144 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: boarding houses, but the room and board also came out 145 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: of their paychecks. Yeah, so for a sample work week 146 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: for a little girl, you'd work about eighty hours a week. 147 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: And and at one point, so the workday used to 148 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,200 Speaker 1: start at seven am. They would wake up and have 149 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:54,439 Speaker 1: breakfast and then start working. But then this real genius 150 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: of a guy that rolls into the mill and he's like, 151 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: you know what, we've noticed those women work so well 152 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: just right when they wake up, So let's start the 153 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: work day at five, and then we'll give them a 154 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: little bit of a breakfast break and they can get 155 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,440 Speaker 1: back to work at seven. So they work for eighty 156 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: hours a week, and they make a whopping three dollars, 157 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: of which a dollar twenty five goes right back to 158 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: Lowell to pay for their room and board. Yes, so 159 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:25,599 Speaker 1: things aren't glowing by any means. And when textile competition 160 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: starts to step up in commodity prices drop, Lowell ends 161 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: up cutting wages and as you might imagine all of 162 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: those ladies were none too pleased. Yeah, And apparently, as 163 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: some sources have noted, the Lowell Girls were already considered 164 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: kind of rabble rousers. I mean the fact that they 165 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: were working outside the home and they gave the owners 166 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: a lot of guff um. But I mean, this is 167 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: such a crucial point in our American labor history because 168 00:10:55,480 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: in four the Lowell Girls strike to protest um, but 169 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: the company quickly cracks down. But still it's significant. You 170 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: have eight hundred of their workers, which was about a 171 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: sixth of the mill force, going on strike. And to 172 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: also drive home the significance of this and the gender 173 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: politics of the day, there is a mill worker named 174 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: Harriet Hansen Robinson who was there and she wrote about 175 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: the incident later, and she recalled a female coworker hopping 176 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: up on a stump and delivering this impromptu pro strike speech, 177 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: probably doing her little turnout sash a move, and Robinson 178 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: said this was the first time a woman had spoken 179 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: in public in Lowell, and its echoes similar kinds of 180 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: milestones like that with the Temperance movement and the abolition 181 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: movement and suffrage, where you have this social consciousness raising 182 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 1: among and within groups of women, inspiring them to speak 183 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: out publicly for the very first time. Yeah, not only 184 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: did you have that one woman sashing on the stump, 185 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,680 Speaker 1: but women marched through town. They made speeches, they passed 186 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: resolutions within their group, and of course held meetings, which 187 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: is so dangerous women holding meetings. But apparently those kinds 188 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: of activities, aside from maybe making speeches, that does seem 189 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: a little radical, but them parading through town and meeting 190 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: among themselves was still considered female appropriate. They weren't pushing 191 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: their boundaries too far. But I gotta say um as 192 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: a twenty one century reader of um, because there was 193 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 1: a lot of writing about this. Their rhetoric was very 194 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: independence heavy, you know, they called themselves daughters of freedom, 195 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: which okay, but it was also very slave heavy, where 196 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: they continually compared their working conditions to slavery, and we're like, 197 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: how dare you United States and slave us in these 198 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,200 Speaker 1: working conditions, which is a little bit awkward because this 199 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: was an eighteen thirty four in America is still like 200 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: almost thirty years away from legally abolishing actual slavery. Yeah, 201 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,079 Speaker 1: that's a little um, that is a little icky. Yeah, 202 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: But I mean like for the for the Times, it 203 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: made sense they were trying to essentially spin there patriotic 204 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: womanhood into something to get them better working conditions. Yeah. Well, 205 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: so two years later we get the second strike, and 206 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: things really intensify at this point. And while the textile 207 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: economy itself was fine, Low still raised the room and 208 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: board costs for women, and the law mill girls are like, 209 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: I don't think so, buddy, No way. This time of 210 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: the workforce, which was between and two thousand participants went 211 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,119 Speaker 1: on strike and the mills ran below capacity for months. 212 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: Even though I mean they ended up, you know, the 213 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: company ended up negotiating with them. Um, they still felt 214 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: the impact of that strike, and the women also formed 215 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: the Factory Girls Association. So these are the first seeds 216 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: you see of female lead union organizing. And scholars have 217 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: said that this signaled what they called a new consciousness 218 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: among these working class women who we're really trying to 219 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: combine the domestic values that they were raised with in 220 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: an urbanized setting to temper all of those fears and 221 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: criticisms of them as being unvirtuous women who are just 222 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: up ending gender roles. And this action would lay the 223 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: foundation for what was called the ten hour movement, Yeah, 224 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: cutting back on those what was it eighty two hour weeks, yeah, 225 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: something crazy. So by four all of those little operatives, 226 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: they've continued to wise up, they've continued to get mad, 227 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: and they are continuing to get political. And they full 228 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: are the Low Female Labor Reform Association, which is the 229 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: first union of American working women that focused on winning 230 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: that ten hour work day. And this group gets credit 231 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: for initiating some of the earliest reforms in the textile 232 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: industries working conditions. And as a piece over at the 233 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: a f l c i O notes that since women 234 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: couldn't vote at the time, the Low Female Labor Reform 235 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: Association was focused on petition campaigns. They were like, Okay, 236 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: we can get all these signatures and then we'll take 237 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: it to the Massachusetts state legislature and get them to 238 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: legally cap the work day at ten hours. So they 239 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: did that. They were collecting signatures, they were organizing other chapters, 240 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: union chapters at other mills. They started publishing what they 241 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: called factory tracks to expose mill conditions, and they were 242 00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: also actively testifying before state legislators. So you have to 243 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: see how determine these women were to work within the 244 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: constraints that they had, both economically and politically, and we're 245 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: still intent on saying Nope, we're going to make this happen. Yeah, 246 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: there was a lot of lady power going on. There 247 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: was one low mill girl writing about this who said 248 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: they have at least learned the lesson which a bitter 249 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: experience teaches. Not to those who style themselves their natural 250 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: protectors are they to look for the needful help, but 251 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: to the strong and resolute of their own sex. So like, 252 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: don't depend on these men who are running the mills, 253 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: or even the men who are running the government. You 254 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: have to help yourself. So listeners are probably wondering at 255 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: this point what happened to International Women's Day. Well, friends, 256 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: don't worry, because we're about to stitch it all together. 257 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: We come right back from a quick break and now 258 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: back to the show. So this is where the podcast 259 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: takes a little bit of a conspiratorial turn. And I've 260 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: been so excited to talk to you about this, Caroline, 261 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:16,439 Speaker 1: because talk about some podcasts. Research really throw in a 262 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: curveball at us. Because here's the thing. Allegedly, International Women's 263 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: Day was inspired by a strike on March eight, eight 264 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: fifty seven. That was, you know, continuing in this tradition 265 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: that women were developing of organizing going on strike. Um, 266 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: these were supposedly women garment workers in New York City 267 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: who marched and picketed, demanding improved working conditions again, the 268 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: ten hour work day and equal rights for women, and 269 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: police responded with brutality, clubbing them allegedly, yes, and then 270 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: allegedly on March eight, nineteen o eight, apparently supposedly allegedly, 271 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: the needle trades eighties in New York marched again, honoring 272 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 1: the eighteen fifty seven march, again demanding the vote and 273 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: an end of sweatshops and child labor. This all sounds 274 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: really good, This all sounds like a great foundation for 275 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 1: International Women's Day. Yeah, of course we should recognize those 276 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: those two strikes that may or may not have happened. Um, 277 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 1: but if we pull back for a minute, especially if 278 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: we look at nineteen o eight when that second strike 279 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: allegedly maybe supposedly happened. By this time, post civil war, 280 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: we have women and especially widows flooding the job market 281 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 1: like never before. But when they arrive looking for jobs, 282 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,200 Speaker 1: unions are largely uninterested in representing them. So like that 283 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: Lowell Mill girl recommended, don't depend on the dudes, turn 284 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: to your lady friends. So they began forming their own 285 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: organizations and initiatives. And this is also the time when 286 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: you have working class women's labor demands intersecting with the 287 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: work of suffragists and progressive era feminist like Jane Adams, 288 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: Florence Kelly, and Rose Snyderman. And speaking of Stuffy miss 289 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: in history class a little while back, they do have 290 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: an episode, I know on Jane Adams. And in eighteen 291 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: sixty nine you get the publication of Subjection of Women 292 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: by John Stuart Mill, which is possibly jointly written with 293 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, which helps launch an argument 294 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: for gender equality. So it's really kind of infiltrating popular discourse. 295 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: And in eighteen eighty nine, the International Socialist Congress accepted 296 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: the principle of women's right to work and equal pay. 297 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: And you might be like, oh, why why are they 298 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,120 Speaker 1: mentioning socialists all of a sudden. Don't worry, it'll make 299 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: sense in a second. And in nineteen o three, the 300 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: Women's Trade Union League was formed. So we see more 301 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: and more and more organizing happening among these women. And 302 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,120 Speaker 1: that brings us to nine nine, which is a pivotal 303 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: year in the history of International Women's Day because on February, 304 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: the Socialist Party in the United States celebrates the first 305 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: National Women's Day in New York, allegedly to honor those 306 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: two strikes. And when that happened in eight fifty seven 307 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: and then in nineteen o eight, yeah, so they didn't 308 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: have the Google to be able to verify whether those 309 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: strikes had indeed happened exactly. We are sounding very like 310 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: we're teasing a lot of information here, uh. And then 311 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 1: in November of that year, in November nineteen o nine, 312 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,680 Speaker 1: you get the International Ladies Garment Workers Union that teams 313 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: up with the National Women's Trade Union League and they 314 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: launched the first long term general strike by women. And 315 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: this was a strike a turning out against Leserson and 316 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: Company and the Triangle Waste Company, two of the quote 317 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: most notorious shops in New York. And for listeners in 318 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: New York, the Lower East Side was where all of 319 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: this stuff was happening. That was the factory hub, and 320 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: shirtwaist workers were among the worst pay aid and uh, 321 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: shirtwaist for anyone who didn't know, like me, what exactly 322 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: that was. I was thinking, like, is that a cumberbund 323 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: or what? It's just another name for a blouse. It 324 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: was like a super popular type of blows women's blouse 325 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: at the time. So these workers, though, were among the 326 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: worst paid. And we're mostly Eastern European Jewish immigrants. So 327 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: this is a group of people who don't have a 328 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: ton of political leverage, but they're organizing through these unions 329 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: to form what's nicknamed the Uprising of twenty thousand and 330 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,719 Speaker 1: It started out as just that joint effort by the 331 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: women's unions, but then it became a general strike. After 332 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: a woman named Clara Lemlick asked to be heard in 333 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: a Cooper union meeting. They were discussing, like, Okay, what 334 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: are we gonna do. They've got this shirtwaist strike. How 335 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: do we feel about this? A couple of guys got 336 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 1: up and gave some lackluster speeches and they were like, oh, okay, 337 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: so lem like gets up and speaking in Yet she declared, 338 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: I am tired of listening to speakers who talk in 339 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,440 Speaker 1: general terms. What we are here for is to decide 340 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: whether we shall or shall not strike. I offer a 341 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: resolution that a general strike be declared now, and she 342 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,120 Speaker 1: fired that crowd up so much that they determined then 343 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: and there to join the strike. Yeah, and they, I 344 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: mean they took an oath. It was all sorts of 345 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: excitement going on, so much excitement that there were several 346 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: men at the time who said that the thirteen week 347 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: long strike was a strike against God. And one of 348 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,880 Speaker 1: my favorite things was what George Bernard Shaw wrote upon 349 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 1: reading this. He said, delightful medieval America always an intimate 350 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: personal confidence of the Almighty. And I love it because 351 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: it almost sounds modern the way that men, so many 352 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: men hashtag not all men, uh tend to frame a 353 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: lot of women's activism in general, that it's like against 354 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: your place as a woman, against nature. Yeah, well, speaking 355 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: of nature, or I mean this strike happened for thirteen 356 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: weeks in the dead of winter. I mean, can you 357 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: imagine picketing in late November in New York Answer no, 358 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 1: I cannot. I live in the South for a reason. Um. 359 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: But it wasn't just the factory workers who were striking. 360 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: This was also the first time you see wealthier women 361 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: joining the picket lines, because they would come out and 362 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: sort of protect the factory workers. From police brutality because 363 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 1: the police aren't gonna beat up, you know, a well connected, 364 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: wealthy woman from New Jersey, but they would have no 365 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: qualms beating up a female factory worker. And Kristen, is 366 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: this where we get them mink brigades? Yes, okay, so 367 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: I want to hear about them. Okay, I'll tell you 368 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: about the mink Brigades, which is my new favorite feminist 369 00:23:54,280 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: history phrase. So these elite allies of these working class 370 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: folks who were going on strike became known as the 371 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: mink Brigades because they would come down and marching the 372 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: picket lines with their minks on. A lot of them 373 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: were socialites from New Jersey, and the woman who kind 374 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: of spearheaded their participation was a girl named Anna Morrigan. 375 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: She was super duper rich and she had like a 376 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: twenty dollar a year stipend to live on, and she 377 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: just like hung out in New York and she was like, 378 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: Ladi Da, my life is really easy. Then she strikes 379 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: up a friendship and possible romantic relationship with one Elizabeth Marbury, 380 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,360 Speaker 1: who at the time was in a quote unquote Boston 381 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,880 Speaker 1: marriage to famed interior designer and star of Our Women 382 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: in interior design podcast Elsie Dwolf, and this pair was 383 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: very connected. They were also very progressive, and Marbury awakened 384 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,840 Speaker 1: Anna Morrigan's social consciousness and she was like, you know what, 385 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:02,199 Speaker 1: I have the means in resources to do something to 386 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: help these other women. So she organizes these Mink Brigades 387 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:12,760 Speaker 1: and they march alongside the Uprising of twenty thousand um. 388 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: And the thing is, though, this is really where you 389 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: start to see a snapshot of class divisions within the 390 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: suffrage movement and early feminism, because the wealthy women were 391 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: not very radical. I mean even for Europeans observing America 392 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: at the time, Suffragists were considered more conservative. Yeah exactly, 393 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: I mean especially if you compare them to suffragettes in 394 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: Britain who were way more intense. And these suffragists, though, 395 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: the Mink Brigades, we're not too fond of the striking 396 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 1: and the picketing. They really preferred to launch consumer boycotts 397 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: and advocate for fair labor standards I mean, which are 398 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: to me are things that you see echoed in second 399 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 1: wave feminism as well. UM. So there was there was 400 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: some tension between these groups, and didn't those Mink Brigade 401 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: ladies sort of start to pull back once they realized 402 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: that they weren't having the same kind of sway in 403 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: the way that they wanted to with a lot of 404 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: these more radical women. Yeah, because you know, these working women. 405 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,439 Speaker 1: I mean, this was a group of largely you know, 406 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: politically marginalized immigrant women. It was like a cross ethnic group, 407 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 1: and they were so fed up. They were just like 408 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 1: everything is at stake for them, So they didn't care 409 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 1: about being more radical. So yeah, they come together for 410 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: a little bit, but then they would end up splintering 411 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,400 Speaker 1: the more things change them where they stay the same 412 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: in terms of those racial and class divisions and feminism. 413 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: Interesting to notice. Um, well, so going back to that 414 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,159 Speaker 1: thirteen week strike, though, the women were eventually successful in 415 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: winning a fifty two hour work week, which I mean, 416 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: I guess that's better than an eighty two hour work week. Uh. 417 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:59,439 Speaker 1: They won four paid holidays and a better pay scale 418 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 1: and unioncognition. Now, the sad news is that one year later, 419 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 1: after all of this happened, the infamous triangle shirtwaist fire happened, 420 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: killing six people, most of whom were women workers, and 421 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: they could not escape the factory because like the doors 422 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 1: were bolted shut to ensure that the women wouldn't walk 423 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,399 Speaker 1: out and strike again. Um and stuff you missed in 424 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: history class does have a whole podcast on that. In 425 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: the wake of this, though, the families who you know, 426 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: who's sisters, daughters, wives were killed in the fire, they 427 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: were compensated. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. One employer was fined 428 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 1: just twenty dollars for for their role in the fatalities. 429 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: So it really seems more like it's the uprising of 430 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 1: twentyd and then followed by the disaster at the Triangle 431 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: shirtwaist fire that inspires the future International Women's Days. Because meanwhile, 432 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: in the social Party, let's hop back to socialists. I 433 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: feel like we need some like fancy transition music to 434 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: go back to the Socialist Party. What's our socialist transition music? Um. 435 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen ten, at the Women's Conference of International Socialist 436 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: Women in Copenhagen, two ladies Rosa Luxembourg, which that's a 437 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: fantastic name, by the way, and Clara Zetkin suggests March 438 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: eighth should be International Women's Day and they should call 439 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: for universal suffrage. And this was strategic on their part. 440 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 1: Like Zekin had a difficult relationship with feminists. She didn't 441 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: really like them all that much, but like a lot 442 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: of the platforms that she espoused, like suffrage, we're kind 443 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: of feminists. But the tension between feminism and socialism was 444 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: that socialism at the time was more interested in uplifting 445 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: like the economic rights of largely working class men versus 446 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: women's rights. Correct, but also going back to the thing 447 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: you said earlier about the assumption that many of the 448 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: feminists and suffrages of the time, if they got the vote, 449 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,920 Speaker 1: would just vote along conservative lines with their husbands. There 450 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: was a lot of fear around that too, and zet 451 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: Can though felt and they're they're one of the sources 452 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: that we read had a snapshot of this statement she 453 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: and some other socialists put out. She basically felt like 454 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: with this heavy sigh of like we've just we've got 455 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: to show them the way, like we I don't like them, 456 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: I don't like what they stand for, but women have 457 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: to come together and the socialist women are the best 458 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: women to show them how to do it well. And 459 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,400 Speaker 1: there was that angle of the strategy, but there was 460 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 1: also the sort of socialist propaganda angle where they were like, 461 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,280 Speaker 1: the party also needs to demonstrate their care for women 462 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: and their interests in women. So this International Women's Day 463 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: can do both of those things at the same time. 464 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: And on March nineteenth, nineteen eleven, International Women's Day was 465 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: celebrated in ash Tria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, and they 466 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: protested for voting rights, workers rights, rights to hold public office. 467 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: I mean they were they were out in mass And 468 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: it's also this year though, that socialist women in Boston 469 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: I believe, said that they would march with suffragists to 470 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: the local suffrage hearings. It was time, you know, to 471 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: band together and really show support. But a journalist covering 472 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,080 Speaker 1: the event noted that they were actually way more socialists 473 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: than there were suffragists and noted something along the lines 474 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 1: of like, oh, maybe maybe the socialists are actually way 475 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: more passionate about this than the suffragists are. Representation matters, ladies. Well, 476 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: if we hop forward though, to nineteen seventeen and traveled 477 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 1: back to Russia, where podcasts began, this is pretty incredible. 478 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 1: Russian women that year observed International Women's Day for the 479 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 1: first time and it in ended up instigating the Russian 480 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: Revolution and Zar Nicholas abdicating. Okay, and this is where 481 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 1: we get to what krist and I have been hinting 482 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: at for a minute now, for like thirty minutes, for 483 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: thirty minutes now, I know we've constantly been hinting at this. 484 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: So scholar to mccaplan wrote the paper on the Socialist 485 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: origins of International Women's Day, and she reveals how those 486 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty seven and nineteen o eight strikes likely never happened. 487 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: Ye yeah, and likelier still, they were a convenient story 488 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: to steer attention away from the holidays socialist and communist roots. Yeah, 489 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: I mean because Clara Zetkin, for instance, was close pals 490 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: with Lennon, who later declared International Women's Day a national 491 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: holiday in Russia. And International Women's Day was really a 492 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: communist holiday until a late nineteen sixties, So you haven't 493 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: celebrated by mean, it's China obviously in Russia all the 494 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: other communist countries at the time. So in nineteen when 495 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: the u N declares the Year of the Woman, we 496 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: still have some of that Cold War anks. So International 497 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: Women's Day gets a bit of an historical makeover. And 498 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: I don't know that there was someone at the u 499 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: N or wherever being like okay to make up a 500 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: strike eighteen fifty seven. Yeah, that sounds good. Um, But 501 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: and Timacaplan wasn't able to cite exactly when and how 502 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: the myth of those two strikes arose because I don't know, 503 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: I mean, it almost seems like pointless mythology, because you 504 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,959 Speaker 1: have all of these other actual strikes that were happening 505 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: at the time that could have easily been linked to it. 506 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: Was it the degree of it all, the fact that 507 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: in those alleged strikes or leon there was supposedly so 508 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: many women participating in such police brutality, Like, oh my god, 509 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,320 Speaker 1: look at your sisters, they were, you know, beaten by 510 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: the police. Yeah, I mean, I think the police brutality 511 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: angle of it was definitely a big one. And our 512 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:19,560 Speaker 1: research for this podcast corroborates Kaplan's claim that the strikes 513 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:23,479 Speaker 1: were made up, because before we ran across her paper, 514 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: I was getting so frustrated searching and searching for information, 515 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: especially on that eighteen fifty seven strike. And if you 516 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: look up seven Women's Strike New York City, all you'll 517 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: find our articles and timelines of International Women's Day. Interesting, 518 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: there's no actual like, there's there's not any historic articles 519 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: on the strike in the same way as you find 520 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: so much information on the you know, the Little Girls 521 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: Uprising of two thousand, twenty thousand, excuse me, and the 522 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 1: whole Slater Mill incident. Yeah, because if there are articles 523 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: from Austin journalists in nineteen eleven covering a in in 524 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,799 Speaker 1: uh comparison with the supposed eighteen fifty seven strike covering 525 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,640 Speaker 1: a relatively small group of suffragists and socialists, if they're 526 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: covering that, they sure as heck about sixty years prior 527 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 1: would have covered a giant, massive strike of women who 528 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,319 Speaker 1: were then beat up by police. Yeah, I mean, and 529 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 1: we did not do like an in depth Lexus nexus search, 530 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: so who knows there could be something buried there. I 531 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: would still like further academic confirmation that this was the case. 532 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 1: So listeners, if you have any intel, please let us know, 533 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 1: because all evidence points to those two strikes being made up, 534 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: like the history of International Women's Day is apocryphal, just 535 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: to make it more palatable for the United States and 536 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:56,880 Speaker 1: other countries to celebrate what is essentially a socialist and 537 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: communist holiday. Had the socialist ladies in the way, and 538 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,560 Speaker 1: now I mean, now it's celebrated. International Women's Days celebrated 539 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:06,839 Speaker 1: in more than a hundred countries. Yeah, so that's I mean, 540 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: that's fabulous. And the thing is finding out that those 541 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,800 Speaker 1: strikes might not have happened is certainly not a reason 542 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,400 Speaker 1: to not celebrate. If anything, I think we should celebrate 543 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,960 Speaker 1: it even more in recognition of this history that we 544 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,840 Speaker 1: just talked about um and especially how it's often erased 545 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: from labor history at large, and also too to celebrate 546 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: the successes achieved by the nineteen twenties. I mean, all 547 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,200 Speaker 1: the striking that women were doing might not have made 548 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,840 Speaker 1: massive impacts in that moment, but incrementally they were building 549 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,239 Speaker 1: up to some pretty major reforms. Yeah. So by the 550 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, you had a bunch of state laws that 551 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: were regulating hours and wages and working conditions for female employees. Uh, 552 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,640 Speaker 1: they secured union contracts and grievance procedures and a lot 553 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: of factories and workshops, and all of the striking and 554 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 1: agitating really paved the way for the Fair Labor Standards 555 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: Act of the New Deal. Yeah, I mean, and these 556 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 1: are the kinds of employment standards that all of us 557 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,719 Speaker 1: benefit from, you know, not just female employees. And for 558 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 1: one final historical note, when FDR came to office, he 559 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:22,640 Speaker 1: appointed Francis Perkins, the first female labor secretary, who had 560 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,720 Speaker 1: been heavily involved with all of that kind of labor 561 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: feminism and the factory strikes and organizing and was sort 562 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: of been meshed in that world. So we probably need 563 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: to circle back and talk more about Francis Perkins at 564 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: some time. But it was so unexpected for me, at 565 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:46,080 Speaker 1: least to connect those dots between this holiday going back 566 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,960 Speaker 1: to you know, these textile mill towns that were popping 567 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,799 Speaker 1: up in the deplorable conditions and women immediately being like, 568 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:56,319 Speaker 1: uh no, I don't think so, and then all all 569 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: the way to historic appointments like Francis Perkins. And I mean, 570 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,760 Speaker 1: just I keep going back to the class differences in 571 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,480 Speaker 1: in how in how these battles were waged and what 572 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,160 Speaker 1: women felt that they had to do or could do. 573 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:14,839 Speaker 1: It's so different when you look at the women who 574 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: were actually in the factories working versus the mink brigades 575 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 1: that came down and stood with them to an extent. Yeah, 576 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:24,880 Speaker 1: I mean, because you would think that the mink brigades 577 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,960 Speaker 1: could wield so much more power to make things happen, 578 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,879 Speaker 1: but they seemed a lot more reserved and conservative and nervous. Well, 579 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,680 Speaker 1: you could argue that, for instance, a woman who's raking 580 00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:39,719 Speaker 1: in twenty k a year at that time, I mean, 581 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: she's kind of part of the however radical she might 582 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: have become befriending those women, Uh, she's kind of part 583 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 1: of the establishment. So like, if you're raking in that 584 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 1: much money a year, you kind of do have a 585 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: stake in the status quo to an extent. Yeah, I mean, 586 00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:00,239 Speaker 1: and that was just her allowance, you know. Correct, still 587 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 1: drop in the bucket. So listeners, Um, Happy International Women's Day, 588 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,320 Speaker 1: whether you're listening to this on March eighth or not. Um, 589 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,399 Speaker 1: we hope that you all had as much fun listening 590 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 1: to this history as we did learning about it and 591 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 1: talking about it. And yeah, if anyone has more information 592 00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:21,920 Speaker 1: to give us, please let us know. Mom said at 593 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com is our email address. You 594 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: can also tweet us at mom Stuff podcast or messages 595 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 1: on Facebook. And we've got a couple of messages to 596 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:40,040 Speaker 1: share with you right now. Now, all right, so we 597 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:42,799 Speaker 1: have a couple of letters on babysitting for you. This 598 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,799 Speaker 1: one's from David. He says, great to finally be writing you. 599 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,080 Speaker 1: I enjoyed your episode on babysitting, but don't think you 600 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,839 Speaker 1: emphasized enough the role that Latina women play in babysitting 601 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,640 Speaker 1: white children in America. Being a first generation Mexican American 602 00:38:55,719 --> 00:38:58,040 Speaker 1: in southern California, I had a mother who left my 603 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,160 Speaker 1: sister and me with an elder cousin of ours while 604 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,720 Speaker 1: she worked as a babysitter for several upper middle class 605 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,400 Speaker 1: white families. The Freakin based babysitting you mentioned in your 606 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: podcast was essential to this. My cousin could take care 607 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:11,520 Speaker 1: of us during the day and learn English and job 608 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,120 Speaker 1: training at night school to increase her job prospects back 609 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:16,960 Speaker 1: in Mexico. This gave the opportunity for my mother to 610 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 1: leave the home and gain economic autonomy by taking advantage 611 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,879 Speaker 1: of the high demand of childcare in more affluent communities. 612 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 1: But the disparity still remained in this dynamic. Parental care 613 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,239 Speaker 1: needed by all children was concentrated in white communities due 614 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:33,839 Speaker 1: to their economic ability to afford experienced help, and could 615 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: only occur with the assistance of Latin women and the 616 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:40,439 Speaker 1: familial networks they had. This dynamic leaves many underprivileged Latin 617 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,239 Speaker 1: children without equality. Care system that perpetuates economic mobility in 618 00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: the future because of the insufficient development of language skills 619 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,120 Speaker 1: and varied interactions we received relative to foreign babies at 620 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:55,160 Speaker 1: white children. This podcast episode was especially interesting to me because, 621 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,600 Speaker 1: as a student at u c l A, our campuses 622 00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 1: neighbors are rich celebrities and people living really hills and 623 00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 1: bel air. I recently used this as the base of 624 00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 1: a satirical Craigslist ad titled Mexican Mail to Babysit your 625 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,360 Speaker 1: White Children, where I essentially pressured and mocked my regional 626 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,799 Speaker 1: audience into hiring myself, a nineteen year old Mexican male, 627 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:17,840 Speaker 1: as an act of liberal social pride. I use lines 628 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,759 Speaker 1: like I have no experience with childcare, will check off 629 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,480 Speaker 1: any diversity requirement you may have logged in your postmodern 630 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,879 Speaker 1: psyche with a felt pen. If requested, I could bring 631 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:27,880 Speaker 1: a picture book of the true history of the Mexican 632 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,960 Speaker 1: American War, and I will work for cheap, specifically eighty 633 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:32,839 Speaker 1: six point one since on the dollar of a white 634 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,719 Speaker 1: female according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Funny enough, 635 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 1: several people responded to my advertisement wanting to legitimately hire me. 636 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:43,640 Speaker 1: I was tempted to take a position as a sitter, 637 00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:45,279 Speaker 1: but as a male, which I do not think you 638 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: touched on this podcast. I was fearful of any lititious 639 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,840 Speaker 1: risk associated with the perception of being a male babysitter. Anyways, 640 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,120 Speaker 1: thank you so much for this podcast. I started listening 641 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:58,040 Speaker 1: at the age of thirteen and really feel that I've 642 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:01,160 Speaker 1: grown up with it, learning the difficulties of the female experience, 643 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,040 Speaker 1: learning every week the specifics of cultural, institutional, and historical 644 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:08,680 Speaker 1: suppression of women's influence and autonomy, and getting the opportunity 645 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,440 Speaker 1: to hear the stories behind so many great women overlooked 646 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:16,680 Speaker 1: by many history books. Really amazing work. David. Oh, David, 647 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,640 Speaker 1: we need we need a button or something to send him. David, 648 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:22,200 Speaker 1: this is a great letter. A I love your sense 649 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 1: of humor, like keep rocking that, but be like, thank 650 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:28,880 Speaker 1: you so much for sharing your story. I what is 651 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,239 Speaker 1: so important to to Kristen and me is to be 652 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:35,680 Speaker 1: able to present these larger topics and then be able 653 00:41:35,719 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 1: to hear the personal stories from you guys about how 654 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:41,359 Speaker 1: these topics are actually affecting your lives. So we really 655 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:46,200 Speaker 1: appreciate your letter. Well, I have another fantastic babysitting email 656 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:49,399 Speaker 1: from Erica. She writes, I thought i'd share a bit 657 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,320 Speaker 1: about my grandma's experience in the mid to late fifties. 658 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 1: She lived in a super super small town in Wisconsin. 659 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,720 Speaker 1: She's told me that instead of sending invitations, a couple 660 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:00,600 Speaker 1: getting married would just post to an ad in the 661 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,360 Speaker 1: town newspaper, which is why she married my grandpa in Florida. 662 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,440 Speaker 1: So she lived in this tiny town when she was 663 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,160 Speaker 1: a teenager, and I doubt she was part of a 664 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,600 Speaker 1: babysitting union, which is probably why she only made twenty 665 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:14,520 Speaker 1: five cents an hour and had to work for very 666 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:16,920 Speaker 1: long periods of time. She didn't have a very good 667 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: experienced babysitting, but luckily for her, she was out of 668 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:22,480 Speaker 1: there and married in Florida by the time she was nineteen. 669 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:26,719 Speaker 1: My experience with babysitting was luckily different. I worked for 670 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,200 Speaker 1: some very nice families who paid me what they wanted. 671 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,920 Speaker 1: I never said a fear anything, which, to be honest, 672 00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,080 Speaker 1: probably meant I earned more than I would had if 673 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:37,080 Speaker 1: I had said a fee. I missed babysitting and sometimes 674 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:39,120 Speaker 1: wonder if twenty one would be too old to do 675 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,920 Speaker 1: it again, or if anyone would even think of a 676 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,960 Speaker 1: young adult instead of a teenager, any thoughts, thanks for 677 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,000 Speaker 1: your awesome podcasts or the highlight of my week, Erica. 678 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:52,600 Speaker 1: I know someone who regularly babysits who is in her 679 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:56,080 Speaker 1: early thirties. One is by no means too old a babysit, 680 00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:59,880 Speaker 1: and I would imagine that people would prefer an older 681 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:02,800 Speaker 1: person coming over to take care of their kids versus 682 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:07,160 Speaker 1: a team. So those are my two pennies and send 683 00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:09,759 Speaker 1: us your two pennies mom. Stuff at how stuff works 684 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:11,800 Speaker 1: dot com is our email address and for links to 685 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:13,400 Speaker 1: all of our social media as well as all of 686 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:17,200 Speaker 1: our blogs, videos, and podcasts with our sources so you 687 00:43:17,239 --> 00:43:21,759 Speaker 1: can learn more about the conspiratorial history of International Women's Day. 688 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,919 Speaker 1: Head on over to stuff Mom Never Told You dot 689 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:31,320 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 690 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works dot com.