On This Day, 15 April 1918

Birmingham Daily Gazette

Monday 15 April 1918

THE WOMAN IN THE OFFICE

By Bernard Gilbert

What is the feeling of men towards the women and girls with whom they work? I have discussed the matter with a number of business men, Government officials, bank managers, and heads of large organisations, and I find them agree on certain points.

They see little difference between women and men under 25. With the older women inferiority is more than strongly marked- as it must be, for they grew up under the bad old regime. Girls they find more apt than boys to stand on their dignity, especially those from the middle class, who are doubtful of themselves. These are sharply on the look-out for “slights,” and refuse to do any occasional tasks of a lower grade.

There are snobs of both sexes, of course, but social differences mean more to women, and it almost a certain test of origin to ask a girl to do something “menial” like running an errand, or putting coal on a fire, or anything that is not her proper job. They do not take their work so seriously. They will leave something of vital urgency to buy a hat or to do something equally important, and nothing will make them alter their attitude.

THEIR GOOD POINTS.

So much on one side. What of the other? Women lend a touch of colour to the buildings that they invade, and they make them more human. Teatime takes its proper place as a sacred festival, and flowers grace the once gloomy mantelpiece.

Perhaps the greatest achievement is the education of the men with whom they mix. The average Englishman badly needs the society of women not of his own family, and he is now getting it, greatly to his advantage. He is visibly improving, as a token of the better days to come when the sexes will mingle freely throughout their lives.

Women are more capable than men in certain directions. They are quick to learn, and assiduous when interested, and are fast overcoming the handicap of ignorance of life with which they began the war. Their sense of justice is not that of man’s, and perhaps never will be; so that it is hard for them to see eye to eye with necessary regulations.

DISLIKE OF WOMEN “BOSSES.”

Another difficulty is that of the rule of women by a woman. They prefer a man. Men will work under a youth, but women will not work under a girl of inferior rank or age without continuous bickering, so that at present the most feasible thing is to place a man at their head.

It is fair to remember that a vast majority of these women and girls are working for the first time in their lives, and find discipline irksome. They are inclined to question necessary rules, and later one will expect them strike more readily and collapse more suddenly than men. It will be at a still later period, when they co-operate with male workers, that both sexes will gain. The weak and strong points of each sex will be counterbalanced then, and the result will be advantageous to both.