On rhetoric and commitment: The employment of married women during the depression of 1936-1939

The debate concerning the employment of married women raged during the severe depression which hit the Palestine economy in 1936-1939. It began as a gender-neutral debate concerning the employment of both spouses, and was immediately genderized to focus on the employment of the married woman. While most rank and file male, and to a much lesser extent, female organized workers demanded the restriction of the employment of married women, strong opposition to such a demand was put up both by the Labor Movement (Histadrut) leadership and by the Women Workers' Movement (WWM). It is argued in this article that despite the similar rhetoric used by Histadrut male leaders and by the WWM, a vital difference existed between them. In the former case, the opposition stemmed from the overall policy of the Histadrut concerning the issue of unemployment, and had, in practice, little to do with the improvement of women's position in the labor market. In the case of the WWM, the opposition to the restriction of the employment of married women, was embedded in a wide range of activities aimed at securing the position of working women, both those married and unmarried.