Peggy Seeger was articulating the plight of women in our society. They were definitely second-class citizens. The song highlights how they were treated at all times. Verse by verse it goes through all the stages in which women were being subjugated, pushed aside, belittled and prevented from participating as equals.
This song was written back in the sixties. How far have we come?
I’M GONNA BE AN ENGINEER
When I was a little girl I wished I was a boy
I tagged along behind the gang and wore my corduroys.
Everybody said I only did it to annoy
But I was gonna be an engineer
Girls were not expected to be lively, boisterous and physical. If they were they were annoying Tom-boys.
Mamma said, “Why can’t you be a lady?
Your duty is to make me the mother of a pearl
Wait until you’re older, dear
And maybe you’ll be glad that you’re a girl.
Dainty as a Dresden statue, gentle as a Jersey cow,
Smooth as silk, gives cream and milk
Learn to coo, learn to moo
That’s what you do to be a lady, now.
They were expected to be decorative, dainty and lady-like. They had to know their place. They were there to get married and have babies. Strangely, just as with FGM it was the women who were the main perpetrators of this impotent image.
When I went to school I learned to write and how to read
History, geography and home economy
And typing is a skill that every girl is sure to need
To while away the extra time until the time to breed
And then they had the nerve to ask, what would I like to be?
I says, “I’m gonna be an engineer!”
Women didn’t need an education, weren’t expected to go for high-level careers, and were directed into the lowly jobs – catering, typing, assistants, shop attendants, receptionists – places where they could look pretty or do mundane, supporting roles.
“No, you only need to learn to be a lady
The duty isn’t yours, for to try to run the world
An engineer could never have a baby
Remember, dear, that you’re a girl”
If women showed great intellectual promise they were usually patronised and put down. It was considered unfeminine. They should shut up and know their places. Smart women were trouble.
She’s smart — for a woman.
I wonder how she got that way?
You get no choice, you get no voice
Just stay mum, pretend you’re dumb.
That’s how you come to be a lady, today.
Well, I started as a typist but I studied on the sly
Working out the day and night so I could qualify
And every time the boss came in, he pinched me on the thigh
Said, “I’ve never had an engineer!”
“You owe it to the job to be a lady
The duty of the staff is to give the boss a whirl
The wages that you get are crummy, maybe
But it’s all you get, ’cause you’re a girl”
Women had to work twice as hard, sometimes doing two jobs, in order to get on. They were treated as sexual objects. The bosses were often sexist pigs. They were expected not to protest.
Then Jimmy came along and we set up a conjugation
We were busy every night with loving recreation
I spent my days at work so he could get an education
And now he’s an engineer!
The prospective husbands were just as bad. They had been brought up in sexists environments where their Dad went to work and earned the money while Mum did all the menial housework. They expected their wives to know their place.
He said: “I know you’ll always be a lady
The duty of my darling is to love me all her life
Could an engineer look after or obey me?
Remember, dear, that you’re my wife!”
Back in those days men felt threatened by intelligent women and the idea of their spouse earning as much as them or having status left they more than uncomfortable.
As soon a Jimmy got a job, I studied hard again
Then busy at me turret-lathe a year or two, and then
The morning that the twins were born, Jimmy says to them
“Your mother was an engineer!”
“You owe it to the kids to be a lady
Dainty as a dish-rag, faithful as a chow
Stay at home, you got to mind the baby
Remember you’re a mother now!”
With parenthood the opportunities dried up with the washing up. There were babies to look after, chores to do. There was no time for a career.
Every time I turn around there’s something else to do
Cook a meal or mend a sock or sweep a floor or two
Listening to Jimmy Young – it makes me want to spew
I was gonna be an engineer.
The intellectual, quality time with adults, faded away. Your mind decayed.
I only wish that I could be a lady
I’d do the lovely things that a lady’s s’posed to do
I wouldn’t even mind if only they would pay me
Then I could be a person too.
What price for a woman?
You can buy her for a ring of gold,
To love and obey, without any pay,
You get a cook and a nurse for better or worse
You don’t need a purse when a lady is sold.
The life of a wife was one of slavery and penury. There was no equality to be found.
Oh, but now the times are harder and me Jimmy’s got the sack;
I went down to Vicker’s, they were glad o have me back.
But I’m a third-class citizen, my wages tell me that
But I’m a first-class engineer!
The boss he says “We pay you as a lady,
You only got the job because I can’t afford a man,
With you I keep the profits high as may be,
You’re just a cheaper pair of hands.”
Even if women managed to get into the work-place they were still second-class. Their pay reflected that.
You got one fault, you’re a woman;
You’re not worth the equal pay.
A bitch or a tart, you’re nothing but heart,
Shallow and vain, you’ve got no brain,
Women were portrayed as unreliable, emotional and hysterical. They gossiped, preened and were light-weight. Why would you employ one? They’d only cause trouble.
Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool
Listened to my lover and I put him through his school
If I listen to the boss, I’m just a bloody fool
And an underpaid engineer
I been a sucker ever since I was a baby
As a daughter, as a mother, as a lover, as a dear
But I’ll fight them as a woman, not a lady
I’ll fight them as an engineer!
Women have had to stand up and fight for their rights! That is a fight that is still not won. It won’t be until they had secured equal pay and have adequate child-care facilities and having children is not an impediment to their careers. They won’t be equal until they are no longer used as enticing sex objects to sell goods, their brains are fully recognised, they are equally represented in business and politics and they have the respect they deserve.
Looks like there’s a long way to go ladies!! A lot worth fighting for!!
One of my favourites! But the girls here still don’t seem to want to be engineers. There was an interesting article about a female Spanish engineer having to work in Saudi in El Pais.
I hate this little Princess garbage that people seem to put their daughters through. Somehow we’ve got to galvanise our little girls into having greater aspirations. Education must surely be the answer.
My oldest daughter was given work experience with engineers on a building but is happy now continuing her nursing career. Not sure on the statistics but I think Spain has more women in engineering.
Spain sounds good. But I still think there are a number of things that need sorting out before this is righted – aspirations, crèches, maternity/paternity leave, equal opps, equal pay, career breaks, children’s games, expectations – quite a few before we get a level playing field.
My daughter’s a chemical engineer but she’s had to go part-time and put her career prospects to the back in order to have a family.