Women and economic evolution: or, The effects of industrial changes upon the status of women

by Theresa Schmid McMahon

As long as women look upon the extension of their political rights from the point of view of individual gain, a large number of them will impede the movement by their opposition and indifference. The reason may be apparently social but it is primarily economic. Free from any economic responsibilities, and some free from responsibilities of any kind, they see no individual advantage in promoting a measure that would add nothing to their comfort or peace of mind. Their philosophy of life is an individualistic one as well as a selfish one, and their opposition to a progressive movement is not so much a question of confirmed principle as egotistical interests.

Many of them feel absolutely no need for an extension of rights for by virtue of their sex precedence they possess many more rights than any social democracy could afford them.

Many women have been stimulated by a sense of duty to their city and their state to take an active interest in political and civic affairs. On the other hand, there will always be many women just as there are many men who will be indifferent to political issues and who will need the stimulation and suggestion political meetings afford before they take an active part in the political life of the community. It is only then that most people appreciate the significance of a political contest.

The campaign for woman’s suffrage is often an attempt on the part of public-spirited people to utilize the energy and leisure of women on behalf of the common good. They alone have the time to make investigations and to work out problems dealing directly with the physical and moral well being of the community. Most men are interested in politics from an economic point of view, whereas many women are interested from the social point of view since they have no economic interests at stake. They are prepared to devote their time to those civic questions neglected by men, which are of vital importance to the health and intelligence of the citizens.

The evolution of industry out of the home is setting free a vast amount of energy to be expended according to the will of the individual who possesses the leisure. That this surplus energy should not be wasted is of social consequence.

With the development of industry outside the home the productive value of many women’s work is disappearing as well as the spirit of unity of the old-fashioned home. An era of individualism is the consequence.

As fast as people break away from the customs and traditions of the past, either through a broader outlook afforded by the educational world or economic readjustment, they form groups of individuals as a source of strength. Just as the primitive tribe appreciated the advantage of the increased strength of group life, so do modern industrial and social classes form groups as a means of defense. Out of economic groups have developed social groups with a tendency toward a social state. As we work toward a social ideal, the power of the economic forces grow less in the molding of our social institutions. It is only within the last decade that there has been a conscious effort to control economic forces for the good of all. Heretofore, civilizations and their institutions have reflected the economic life, and the predatory character of the latter made possible the survival only of the most fit economically whether state, tribe, class or sex. The survival of the fittest was not necessarily the survival of the best.

We are rapidly approaching a time when “what is best” is thought of rather than what is fittest to survive. “The best” is that which affords the greatest amount of good to the greatest number. This is not a social philosophy as opposed to individualism, but a social philosophy of individualism. Each individual counts in the general scheme of things and in so far as he counts for good, he counts as an important and indispensable social force not to be neglected.

This is the new philosophy of the age: The poor man claims social rights as well as the rich; the woman as well as the man; and the child more than all the others. All are working for each and each for all.

This is the keynote of the demand for the political rights of women when made by the public-spirited for the sake of the community and the child. It has not grown out of sex hatred or class struggle, or an intolerable oppression of the weak by the strong, but the spirit of a social democracy. On the other hand, the demand as made on a purely industrial basis is part of an industrial struggle. In it are involved elements of class struggle and a revolt of the weak against the oppression of the strong, i. e. the elements which were paramount in the men’s struggle for the franchise. And to these elements is added one more. The struggle in the past was fought by the men for their families, but so difficult has become the industrial life that each individual, whether man or woman, must fight for himself. It is not social democracy that is impelling women industrial workers to ask for the franchise, but on the contrary an industrial tyranny.