Heart

Women’s ‘All Work, No Pay’ Exhibit New at Smithsonian

By  | 

Opening, Monday, March 4, the National Museum of American History’s new exhibit, “All Work, No Pay: A History of Women’s Invisible Labor” examines the implied expectation that women will take care of the housework.

Part of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, #BecauseOfHerStory, the display shows that despite advances in the paid labor force, women continue to be responsible for most of the unpaid work at home. It explores the theme of unpaid work in three sections: “Separating Home and Work,” which identifies the changing perspectives of gender roles and work in early America; “Making Unpaid into Paid Work,” which contrasts gains in the paid workforce against the continuation of unpaid work in the home from the 1890s to 1940s; and “The Second Shift,” in which the unspoken expectation of housekeeping continues despite progress in women’s rights from the 1960s through the 1990s.

“There is a historical relationship between unpaid work and the lower wages that women often receive in the workplace,” said Kathleen Franz, chair and curator, Division of Work and Industry, who co-curated the exhibition alongside guest curator Kate Haulman, associate professor of history at American University. An infographic at the display points to a statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor based on the 2013 U.S. Census that women on average earn 80 cents to every dollar men make.

All Work and No Play Exhibit

Pockets, aprons and housedresses meant for domestic work are among the featured objects. “Work wear” pieces from each time period serve to both underscore the enduring nature of housework over three centuries but also the ways in which women tailored their clothing to make that work easier on the body. In the 1700s and early 1800s, short gowns were garments owned by most women and highlight how they shared similar tasks across race and class despite the complicated dynamics and inequalities between them. These short gowns allowed for freedom of movement and were often complemented by “pockets” which could be tied on and used to carry small tools such as scissors and thimbles.

By the 20th century, there was a healthy retail market for ready-to-wear housedresses. Although new technologies, such as electric irons, promised to make women more efficient domestic laborers, they did little to lighten the load. Seeing an opportunity, entrepreneur Nell Donnelly Reed designed cheerful, stylish garments that made her a millionaire. Even during the Great Depression, her factory employed thousands of women to manufacture Nelly Don dresses. Finally, the exhibit features today’s version of the contemporary housedress: yoga pants.

Many of the costumes on view represent the type of women’s clothing that is rarely seen outside of the home and thus are representative of the invisibility of women’s labor over time. “All Work, No Pay” draws on the deep collection of the museum’s domestic clothing costumes, many of which have never been on view.

“All Work, No Pay” is meant to stimulate intergenerational conversations about the association of gender and labor by having a space adjacent to the display where visitors are invited to sit and share their stories about who did the work in their houses. On occasion, curators plan to staff the conversation table in order to enter into a dialogue about the topic and to record and preserve oral histories about housework for the museum’s permanent collection.

The museum is located on Constitution Avenue N.W., between 12th and 14th streets, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *