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“No Qualifications Are Required, Except Influential Friends”: The Importance of Recommenders “No Qualifications Are Required, Except Influential Friends”: The Importance of Recommenders
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“The First Thing a Woman Had to Do”: Constructing a Narrative of Dependence “The First Thing a Woman Had to Do”: Constructing a Narrative of Dependence
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“Becoming Pathetic—No Office Rewards Her Persistent Demands”: Straying from the Narrative of Female Dependence “Becoming Pathetic—No Office Rewards Her Persistent Demands”: Straying from the Narrative of Female Dependence
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“The Endurance of the Ancient Spartans”: Female Self-Sufficiency, Ambition, and Tenacity “The Endurance of the Ancient Spartans”: Female Self-Sufficiency, Ambition, and Tenacity
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Two Telling Her Story to a Man: Applying for Government Work
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Published:November 2017
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Abstract
Chapter 2 examines how women applied for federal positions and details the criteria department heads used for selection. In general, supervisors were paternalistic, choosing female applicants who presented themselves as dependent and helpless over applicants who displayed independence and ambition. Supervisors gave jobs to women who had powerful men to advocate on their behalf, who appeared needy, and who were applying because some tragedy, often the Civil War, had removed their male support. While many women and their recommenders adhered to this narrative of dependence, women’s actions during the application process—including self-advocacy, working other jobs to stay afloat, and keeping abreast of developments in the departments—revealed significant independence and ambition. Julia Wilbur’s experience in obtaining a job in the Patent Office is detailed.
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