Guide to Hiring Women!

I received an email from a friend with this “Guide to Hiring Women” supposedly published in the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. Apparently, it was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II. I couldn’t quite believe it and decided to dig a little further. Looks like it is not just spam or a hoax after all! Snopes.com claims to have verified the legitimacy of the article and has images of the original print version on their site! All I have to say is, Thank God, I wasn’t looking for a job in the 40’s!


Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees

There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage. Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:
  1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

  2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

  3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

  4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

  5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

  6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

  7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.

  8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

  9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

  10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

  11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.



What the @$^% ?!!??!!!






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8 Comments:

Stephanie said...

So I completely skipped the first paragraph and began reading and thought, is this person NUTS?! Then I read your WTF and reread the first paragraph and oh my god. I'm so glad it's 2007.

Unknown said...

I don't understand why any of this is so shocking, it's mostly common sense stuff.
And good advice.

Anonymous said...

Too funny.

Amazing to think this wasn't that long ago.

Ian said...

How is this shocking?

Most of it is highly sane advice, especially given the circumstances under which it was issued.

It's a sign of our times that you can't take good advice on gender relations without feeling guilty that you're thinking about gender relations because that means you're SEXIST OMG YOU PIG.

ispf said...

All: Thanks for the comments! Based on the comments here and on reddit, I noticed one thing - most comments that find this disturbing or stunning are by women and most comments that claim that this is "common sense" is from men :) Are some of our men still stuck in the 40's ??!

Adrian S said...

No its not that men are stuck in the 40's. We just have more common sense and women still don't see the truth of the matter.

Going to the washroom a dozen times a day, in pairs...and hour to put on their face for work...
wearing ridiculous shoes to look pretty...at work...not a fashion show, needing a dozen 'outfits' for work...and god forbid 2 women show up in the same outfit.

Men. Jeans-T shirt or suit.
2 pairs of shoes, 5 pairs athletic shoes. No make up, comb hair once a day, no gel, mousse, hairspray....


The scary thing is I have friends that would actually believe the above statement and agree with most of the article

Lauren said...

Wow, Adrian, you own 5 pairs of shoes? I'm a girl and I don't even need that many. You must be quite the fussy dresser.

Oh, and if women are constantly flocking away from you in pairs, could it be that you're an insufferable ass and they're just trying to get away from you? Seems like a definite possibility. You talk about your friends being the real sexists, but I wouldn't be so quick to make a distinction between you and them. I'm not seeing much of one.

Anonymous said...

That is perhaps because Adrian was employing something we in the literary world call "sarcasm" whereby he (or she) makes an ironic statement which is on its face antithetical to the point they are espousing. I would've thought the last sentence made it rather obvious, myself.