Woman and Labor

Author of the classic novel, The Story of an African Farm, South African writer Olive Schreiner (1855–1920) early became a free thinker, rationalist, and passionate liberal in economics and politics. A fervent advocate of feminist causes, she rebelled against Victorian-era social and political practices, particularly the inequalities of labor practices between men and women in the early years of the 20th century. Woman and Labor is her vivid, eloquently expressed effort to promote her principle and beliefs.
Schreiner examines the changes in people's lives engendered by social and technological advances, observing the consequences of replacing manual labor with machines and the subsequent modifications in material conditions of daily life. Urging society to find new and expanded roles for women, she views the feminist goal as an escape from customary female dependence on men as a source of support and well-being.
This ground-breaking document is widely regarded today as one of the "Bibles" of the feminist movement. Its intensely moving argument for equality and justice in the workplace is vital reading for social historians as well as anyone drawn to the feminist cause and the struggle for gender equality.