During the early 20th century, Mexican American women generally did not work outside the home. For those who did, the occupations open to them were limited: laundress, seamstress, field work such as picking vegetables, or factory work such as with textiles or pecan-shelling.
Working as a store clerk was the top rung of the occupational ladder for Hispanic women prior to World War II. Opportunities for higher education or financial independence were few. Though there were exceptions, Hispanic women did not take up public roles in large numbers until the 1970s.
Prints and Photographs Collection, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. #1977/127-20.
"Working as a store clerk was the top rung of the occupational ladder for Hispanic women prior to World War II."
ReplyDeleteYes, but what about the Beer Girls of the 1920s-1930s Depression era who worked their way to the top of the stripper pole in the speakeasies of the Bordertown?
Huh? What about them?
Oh Yea, I forgot - the stripper poles were hand-carved out of oak but they had a hard time fiding routines to dance to the tunes of corridos sometimes- hey but i'm sure they improvised.
ReplyDelete