The Working-Class in America: Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the working class are the low waged worked who mainly worked in industries like Texas, Boston, New York. These were the skilled and non-skilled workers worked on pre-industrial times who migrated from the countryside seeking employment. For the working-class industrialization and urbanization impacted them in a harsh living and working condition. The working class in the American lost their status as worker due to the increased mechanization in most factories and the industrialization evolution what still being implement in major cities. Increased number of unskilled works lost their jobs because most industries used systems which reduced the tasks and increased productivity. This forced most works to live low stands among quarters with no government safety and poor health condition. This also mainly impacted by the housing and the working-class population. Most families in the American working class only managed to make ends meets because urbanization poses challenges of living standards. The cost of living had increased rapidly with the late 90s era in the American society whereas most industries grew in depend hence wages increase depended only on the industry

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In the wave of industrialization and urbanization, a middle class, bridging the elite and the working class, emerged. Until that their emergence, there were only two social classes, the low-income commoners who had been born in the working classes and the aristocrats who had been born wealthy and privileged. They had monthly and yearly salaries as compared to the working class who had hourly salaries. Industrialization had led to the need for white collar jobs such as merchants, doctors, accountants, teachers, managers, and lawyers. It led to the growth of the middle class as many acquired skills and education for these occupations. There were better salaries and the living standards of the middle class was improved. The elite class was topmost class in the society. The members were educated, wealthy and were the owners of factories and buildings in which the people worked and rented. With the industries increasing in numbers, and the need for more residential areas for the working class and the middle class, the elite class amassed more and more wealth with industrialization and urbanizations. They however faced competition from the middle class, who were very hard working and would accumulate enough wealth to rival the elite class.

Gender Roles and Stereotyping in the Late Nineteenth Century

Not only in the nineteenth century, gender stereotyping occurs very frequently in today's society, and in everyday life. This is seen as the masculine gender is readily attributed to professions such as soldiers, doctors and surgeons while the female gender is attributed to in the likeness of secretaries and nurses. When there is the feeling of compromised personal beliefs, we tend to feel an obligation to offer additional descriptions such as in "female soldier" or in "male nurse". It is also seen when people tend to infer erroneously more often than not, where no information is explicitly provided about the gender associated with the particular occupation, personal trait or activity. For example, it is not correct to conclude that the person doing laundry is necessarily female. It could be either gender. However, this behavior was far more rampant in the late twentieth century and could have greatly been influenced by the Gilded Age, the time in America between 1870 and 1900.

In the nineteenth century, stereotyping was a norm. There was a notion of separate spheres of activities based on gender where men would increasingly go away to work for long period, while the women would remain home to maintain the household and watch the children. It was considered that women had more moral capabilities compared to men and were more suited to rearing children and maintaining the household. With the wave of industrialization and urbanization growth in the late nineteenth century, there emerged a phase of civilization where men worked in offices and women got education. However, writers and authors began to complain that the American men were becoming overcivilized and over-refined. They feared that this lack of aggressiveness and virtues considered to be "manly" would lead to a decline of core social values at the time. In response to this, many men began involvement in what was termed as strenuous life which included sports activities and athletics such as college football which grew o be popular in the 1890s

This can be also observed in the late twentieth century. Considering a case in point, in the film Fight Club, the main character Tyler Durden criticizes modern life at the time, in the late twentieth century, saying that the men of the time have been stripped of their masculinity. He says, "We are a generation of men raised by women", indicating the existing stereotypes in gender roles in the society. Tylor suggests that the solution to this, the emasculation, rested on Fight Club, where the men would be given an opportunity to have an experience of life in its most primal level. The film is intended to commentate on the society of the late twentieth century but could in the same way have been relatable to the audience of the Gilded Age. This was a time when women could not vote, when they were privileged to have educational opportunities but there fewer career opportunities for them and were only considered suitable for marriage as they were generally considered physically and intellectually inferior hence unsuitable for the workplace. Those women who managed to work in factories were condemned and ignored for their "unfeminine" occupations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, with the women being regarded and attributed to virtues such as morality, gentility, benevolence and passivity, while men are attributed to virtues such as hard work, aggressiveness, discipline and individuality, stereotyping will maintain its grip to society. It is important to consider that both genders can possess both virtues and still preserve their personality.