When Women Were “Ladies”
As late as 1800, women’s only place was in the home. The idea of women in the business world was unthinkable. No “nice” woman would d     of entering what was strictly a “man’s world”. Even if she could, what would she do? Men were positive that no women could deal with a job outside her home. This was such a w     accepted idea that when the famous Brontë sisters began writing books in 1846, they disguised (伪装) themselves by signing their books w  men’s names.
Teaching was the first profession (职业) open to women soon after 1800. But even so, that was not an e   profession for women to enter because most high schools and colleges were open only to men. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to a    women.
Hospital nursing became respectable work for women only after Florence Nightingale became f    . Because she was a wealthy and cultured woman, as well as a nurse, people began to believe it was possible for women to nurse the s     and still be “ladies”. Miss Nightingale opened England’s first training school for nurses in 1860.
The i     of the typewriter (打字机) in 1867 helped to bring women out of the home and into the business world. Because women had slender (纤细的), quick f    , they learned to operate typewriter quickly and well. Businessmen found that they had to hire women for this new kind of work.
By 1900, thousands of women were working at real jobs in schools, hospitals, and offices in both England and America. Some women even m     to become doctors or lawyers. The idea that “nice” women could work in the business world had been accepted.