“It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered”
This quote references the problem that has no name, a strange feeling of unhappiness that American housewives felt. They kept talking about it, but everyone wondered how they can possibly want more, as long as they had everything: husband, children, a big house. But this is all we see outside, and no one deepened inside their lives. All these women were crying for help, to get out of this cage of household routine.
“Some women still remember painfully giving up those dreams, but most of the younger women no longer even thought about them ”
These lines are about the dreams of American women at the end of 19th century, how hard public pressed in their ambitions and efforts to change the lifestyle. Public life taught them that they were not able to pursue any careers, education, or rights of independence; they just needed to find themselves as good wives and mothers. Magazines were telling them how to catch a man and make him stay, how to perfectly choose products, and to buy stuff for the home; they always avoided a chance that there is possibly another way for women beyond being housewives.
“The shortages in the nursing, social work, and teaching professions caused crisis in almost every American city”
As long as women started to fight for their rights and desires the problem became clear by itself. The business sphere, the fields of science, and other branches that bring big money were mostly occupied by men. And still someone should teach children in kindergarten and schools, or assist at hospitals. The lack of women who were staying at home showed the result, and men were forced to let their wives work and occupy social projects so as not to impede the country's progress.
