Karen Anderson

Work, Gender, and Power in the American West

What do a Kansas farmwoman, a Chicana cannery worker, and a mining camp prostitute have in common? Among other things, they are all women workers in the area that historians have defined as the American West. Despite their apparent differences, they all worked in cultures that expected women to bear and care for children; to cook, keep house, and provide clothing for their families; and to provide sexual intimacy for men and emotional support for kin and community. At the same time, their differences remind us that there are many histories to write about women workers in the U.S. West (or North or South or East), as Joan Jensen and Darlis Miller reminded us in their prize-winning essay.1 How then do we go about telling their stories? How do we understand their commonalities and their differences?