New York State and City

New York: State and City Suffice to say, the French adage "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" remains true today as it was during the time of Jacob Riis in the late 1800s. This is particularly relevant when looking the conditions of women in the workplace that could only be described as dire and dismal. Although between that period and at present, there have been major changes and improvements in women's working lives, there are still similarities though.

Hence, the more things change the more they remain the same and Riis' writing is testimony to this since he was able to present how society was then and how society is now especially in the treatment of women in the workplace. Reading through the whole chapter, one can feel unnerved and question how come in a society and nation that values freedom, equality and merit allowed for such miserable circumstances to happen with the other half of the population -- women.

From beginning until the end of the chapter, Riis described the sorry state of women not only in the workplace but how they lived their lives in general in supposedly one of the most promising cities in the world. Tales of gloom and doom were the contents of the chapter and it was quite disheartening to realize that these happened in one of the cradles of democracy.

One of the very things that would come to mind in reading the chapter is that women during that time were reduced to a life of servitude with whomever they work for. Whether as servants at homes of the affluent or employees at various firms, their situations could be akin to slaves ultimately under the mercy of their masters.

From the pittance they earn after working often more than eight hours a day, they are even fined for the simplest of infractions all because their employers could do so and get away with it.

As what Riis wrote (1890), "…the fact that wages averaging from $2 to $4.50 a week were reduced by excessive fines, the employers placing a value upon time lost that is not given to services rendered." The women who were victims of this transgression could not do anything but merely "grin and bear" because complaining would only see them back out on the streets and immediately replaced by the throngs of women looking for work.

Although this situation can be considered as "not occurring anymore in the United States, there are still underground businesses who hire illegal immigrants and are treated in the same way. Further, other countries with poor labor laws and not as free as the United States treat women workers in the same manner. They are what the United States was over a hundred years ago and hopefully things will change for the better the in the same manner as how things evolved in our nation.

There is condition in the workplace that is known as "looking at the glass ceiling" and it has something to do with women striving to break the glass and have the same or better opportunities as men in the workplace. This means earning the same amount of pay for the same work men do and being able to get promoted also.

Riis provided an excellent insight in the chapter regarding the enormity of the "looking at the glass ceiling" syndrome especially with regards to the disparity between the wages of men and women during that time. It is a known fact that men's wages cannot fall below a limit upon which they can exist, but woman's wages have no limit, since the paths of shame are always open to her, wrote Riis (1890).

The situation is quite similar nowadays because there have been studies pointing out the fact that women earn less compared to men even though they both are doing the same job.

In another disparity between the sexes in the workplace, there have been instances whereby men are getting the promotions while women have to stay on the sidelines "looking at the grass ceiling." This is quite prevalent especially in top level positions in corporations and even the government that sees streamlined and continuous promotion and pay increases for men but women need to fight "tooth and nail" to get what they deserve and what they have been working hard for.

Riis reiterated further this inequality when he stated that "a little girl, who received two dollars a week, made cash-sales amounting to $167 in a single day, while the receipts of a fifteen-dollar male clerk in the same department footed up only $195 (Riis, 1890)." The point Riis was making is that the former earning less got fined for any reason deemed by the employer while the latter maybe only got a slap on the wrist. Indeed, it is inequality between the sexes and being bias against women in the workplace.

By far, the most saddening part of the chapter is with regards to: "The ink was not dry upon her letter before a woman in an East Side tenement wrote down her reason for self-murder: 'Weakness, sleeplessness, and yet obliged to work. My strength fails me. Sing at my coffin.' (Riis, 1890)" The woman chose death by her own hands because she had lost all hopes and aspirations.

Getting to this point where dying was the easier choice only means that she felt helpless and alone with nowhere or no one to run to. Unfortunately, Riis wrote that the death of this woman is not an isolated case but has been the same fate of others like her. Some chose to do so not only because they could not find proper work and would have ended up selling their bodies.

Thus, between living a life of sin and dying, for these poor women, the latter was the nobler choice. 'American girls never whimper' became a proverb long ago, and she accepts her lot uncomplainingly, doing the best she can and holding her cherished independence cheap at the cost of a meal, or of half her daily ration, if need be, wrote Riis (1890).