Essay 1

Essay 1

Many of the issues discussed in the first section return and are developed further in the course of the book. Among them is the role of masculinity in shaping identities, union membership, and social policies, as explored in Treating the Male as 'Other': Redefining the Parameters of Labor History, and Measures for Masculinity: The American Labor Movement and Welfare-State Policy during the Great Depression. Kessler-Harris's sophisticated analysis shows that gender divided the working class against itself: male workers focused on preserving their sense of masculine independence and pride and their right to earn a family wage, rejecting women's work ...