Muller v. Oregon

In Muller v. Oregon (1908), the Supreme Court of the United States “upheld an Oregon law limiting the workday for female wage earners to ten hours” (The Oregon Encyclopedia, 2018). The issue under consideration was whether the passage of laws by states to protect workers was permitted by the Constitution. The evidence presented by Brandeis, a lawyer acting for the state, clearly demonstrated that women’s health was negatively affected by long hours of work. On this basis, “the court concurred on the grounds that society had an interest in protecting the bodies of potential mothers, whom the majority opinion referred to as ‘bearers of the race,’ opening the door for an expanded state power to regulate the workplace on the basis of sex differences” (The Oregon Encyclopedia, 2018). In effect, therefore, the court emphasized the maternal functions of women and deemed the said gender critical to the sustenance of future generations. It is the difference in the maternal functions as well as the physical structure between men and women that informed the court’s decision. It is important to note that just three years earlier, a similar labor legislation that applied to men, i.e. in Lochner v. New York (1905), had been invalidated. In Muller v. Oregon, however, the justices deemed the New York law they had invalidated to be different from that of Oregon. In my opinion, it is possible that decisions of this kind could have the effect of rejuvenating gender stereotypes, with the view of women as being the weaker sex being enhanced. Further, it is also important to note that a decision of this nature could limit employment opportunities for this particular gender. In the final analysis, the decision demonstrates that at the turn of the 20th century, gender as well as physical differenced had greater sway in the determination and enforcement of labor contracts. A question that comes to mind at this point is: is a woman’s physical and mental wellbeing a concern that ought to attract legal protections?

References

The Oregon Encyclopedia. (2018). Muller v. Oregon (1908). Retrieved from https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/muller_v_oregon_1908_/#.WrQFOWpubIV