Can a Woman Reconcile Earning a Living with the Affairs of the Home?

This question was put to a select group of Hollywood's most famous stars: Robert Taylor, Irene Dunne, Clark Gable, and Lana Turner.

Robert Taylor: I do not think it is our business to debate this subject, for women mostly work out of material need, and we have no right to object to their doing so. But if my opinion must be given, I hold that the late war brought many woes upon mankind, and among its worst tragedies is that it made woman forget that she is a woman and that her true place is the home. I frankly believe that women who desire to work are not housewives, and that women of this stamp lack much of the femininity and the softness which are the loveliest things in which a woman shows herself. And I must admit that most of those who take a position are fleeing from some abnormal situation, or from a condition far removed from any happiness; and in such a case the woman must not be wronged, for in her flight from the home there is a way of winning back some of her stolen happiness... The world has lately admitted that woman is mentally capable of performing all of man's duties, and therefore we must not bear hard upon her.

And let the woman come to an understanding with her husband about work before marriage, lest her work cause a misunderstanding that may lead to the ruin of the family.

Irene Dunne: My position is very awkward, and it is not easy for me to argue this subject, because I myself work, and I fear my frankness may bring many women's resentment down upon me. My plea to the women readers is that they not misunderstand me nor judge me in haste.

There is no doubt that the war affected woman's attitude toward her home. After the war's end a great number of women returned to their homes; but their number is very small compared with those who remained at work. And this is proof that these women are searching for the happiness they lost at home, and we must not deal unjustly with them in our judgment; rather, let our judgment be fair!

I find no justification for a woman's working if she has small children; for however hard she strives to fulfill her duties toward them, she inevitably falls short — and the shortfall is always on the child's side. Therefore a woman must sacrifice every job for the sake of complete care of her children; and when they have grown, and their standing on their own becomes possible, then there is no harm in the mother's returning to her work — if there is an utmost necessity for that work. But if the reason is an increase of comfort and a raising of the standard of living, that reason alone is not sufficient, especially if the man is not pleased with it.... This is a point that must be taken into consideration; and it is not fitting that a woman work unless she is in complete understanding with her husband in the matter, for this subject concerns the man directly, and it is his right to judge in it.

Clark Gable: I hold that the direct cause of woman's working is the economic situation, and not a flight from her domestic misery as some allege. The high cost of living during the war and after it made the income of some men insufficient to meet the family's expenses — which drove women to hasten to save the situation by sharing the work with their men.

And this, in my opinion, does not solve the problem, but opens the way to many other problems, chief among them the neglect of the home and the continuation of strife between husband and wife.

Woman has grown used to work, and the large salaries — which made it easy for her to buy her luxuries in plenty — have beguiled her; and so it is no longer easy now to persuade her to return to her home and attend to its affairs and to her family's happiness. I believe the greatest inducement for a woman to remain in her home is her love for her husband and her children: if that love exists, she will choose — of her own accord — to stay at home, to secure the comfort of her husband and her children. The sole justification for her working is the piling up of debts; in that case there is nothing against the woman's working to help solve the financial crisis, on condition that she return to her home once the paying of the debt is assured and the husband stands alone in providing for the household. For happiness is not to be had in a home where the husband feels that his dignity is insulted and that he is unable to supply the wants of his wife and his children. And however that may be, a woman must trust her husband and his ability to provide for her, and must let him trust himself; for happiness comes complete only when the man alone spends of his own money upon his home.

The duties of the home demand full time, if a woman wishes to accomplish her duties in the most complete way. And whatever a woman may earn by working outside, I do not see it equaling her loss in neglecting the affairs of her home.

Lana Turner: The excuses a woman pleads for deserting her home and taking a position, even if they hold some measure of truth, are not of such importance that the comfort of her husband and her children should be sacrificed for them. The result of this social problem has been to stir up many troubles, the chief of them the neglect of children, exposing them to bad habits and to corrupt faults of upbringing.

I do not think a single man would be content that his wife come home from her work at six in the evening, her strength exhausted, to take her rest in preparing an abridged supper or buying the household things at a late hour of the night — which prevents her from sitting with her children, listening to their problems and their needs, and breathing reassurance into their hearts! That is no happy life. The biggest salary does not make up for this wretched state in the atmosphere of the home. And no woman may work before her children complete their sixteenth year; then it becomes possible for the children to stand on their own, no longer in pressing need of clinging to their mothers. In my opinion, the only cause that justifies a mother's working before her children reach sixteen is the presence of famine in the house!

A woman, once she is used to a steady salary, finds it hard to give up; and this attitude wounds the man's pride, poisons the atmosphere of married happiness, and in consequence lessens the man's confidence in himself. A woman must decide between two things: either she leaves her husband, or she leaves her job — and I do not believe there is one woman who would prefer the job to the husband!

And before everything, the wife must love the work of the house and desire it of her own accord; otherwise there is no use in forcing it upon her by compulsion. And the husband will do well to encourage her from time to time by surprising her with a small gift that drives away her weariness, and with words of compliment that breathe activity into her spirit and strength to keep on with the work of the home, and to watch over its betterment and its perfection.