The Lowell Offering by Benita Eisler - Book Report/Review Example

The Lowell Offering by Benita Eisler The Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women (1840-1845) is by Benita Eisler. It is about the American women who worked in cotton mills. They were the first females to earn wages by being employed in an industry in the United States of America. Between the years 1830s and 1840s, it was quite a new social as well as economic phenomenon in the country. With the incentives of getting handsomely paid and being independent, many women decided to work. Despite the long hours of hard work, the female employees found the time to pen down their experiences and write about their lives. They wrote letters, essays and even stories, there were also some sketches and these were published in the literary magazine called the Lowell Offering. In the nineteenth century, the times were not so modern. A woman being given a high salary was unusual. It was also during this time period when there was a change in gender identity amongst other things. Once the mills were set up, the lives of the women living there changed. They turned from working on the farms to leaving their homes to earn money by getting employed at the mills. Only particular matter was published in the Offering to make the people accustomed to the fact that rural women worked at a factory instead of staying at home. To encourage more women to apply for jobs at the mills, they tried to make life there as alike as their lives at home as possible. Boarding houses were built and they had to follow a certain code of conduct during and after work. Their activities and behavior were supervised by the superiors. There were also a whole range of social as well as cultural activities such as lectures, readings, etc. which helped to cultivate their minds. Also, the literary magazine Lowell Offering was financed and published, "written exclusively by females employed in the mills." The young women working at the mills had to face certain gendered problems. They were of an age when women were courted by men and were ready for marriage. Instead, they were separated from their families and those who they depended on. Working in the factory was a threat to turn the women into ‘wage slaves’ who were the poor and ill-treated employees. However, working at the mills allowed the women to earn enough money which led to them enjoying freedom and independence even though this was not easily earned. The women were called the ‘mill girls’ and had to carry out very grueling and exhausting tasks to earn their wages. They worked six days a week and up to twelve hours a day. The sound of the machines was tremendous and the women were kept on their feet all day long. One of the writers of the magazine once wrote: ‘It seemed as though cotton-wool was in my ears, but now I do not mind it at all. You know that people learn to sleep with the thunder of Niagra in their ears and the cotton mill is no worse … it makes my feet ache and swell to stand so much, but I suppose I shall get accustomed to that too" [Ben98]. The above mentioned was not the only problem. The women had a hard time trying to adjust to the new surroundings. There were conflicts amongst the management as well as the workers but none of these experiences were mentioned in the magazine. The texts published were penned by the employees of the factory, usually printed under pseudonyms. There were specific articles which were allowed to be published – those which showed a positive light on the work done at the factory. There were stories of the girls who were bound forever to the families they had come from and who they visited to give their wages to. Articles on the activities carried out there and how responsible they were in managing the girls were also printed. The women thought of themselves as being independent by standing on their own feet and yet the supervisors continued to monitor their actions on behalf of the family they had left behind. There were issues of the magazine which talked of the wonderful opportunities the women had a chance to get by going to work there. In one of her articles for the Offering called ‘The Pleasures of Factory Life’, Sarah Bagley wrote: “Let no one suppose that the 'factory girls' are without guardian. We are placed in the care of overseers who feel under moral obligations to look after our interests. …In Lowell, we enjoy abundant means of information, especially in the way of public lectures. …And last though not least, is the pleasure of being associated with the institutions of religion. …Most of us, when at home, live in the country, and therefore cannot enjoy these privileges to the same extent; and many of us not at all” [Ben98]. Despite the fact that the women got some kind of independence by working at these factories, the fact remains that the higher authorities continued to interfere in between. They were never completely independent, in control. However, it must have been pleasant to be able to help the family in money matters and in broadening their horizons. And, of course, they all tried out their hand at writing and were quite successful at it even if not all of their accounts could be published. Works Cited Ben98: , (Eisler 52), Ben98: , (Eisler 64-65), Read More