ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the processes which lie behind the devaluation of women’s work. It examines the history of changing technologies and women’s work in hosiery in terms of ideas associated with the allocation of tasks and machines to women or to men. The technological centre of the industry in the first half of the nineteenth century was the knitting frame which had been invented by the Reverend William Lee in 1589. By 1840, the situation had altered dramatically. It was now widely recognized that great numbers of women worked in the industry, both in seaming and finishing areas and also as knitters. As soon as the first automated and steam-powered machines were introduced, employers pointed out that they could easily be worked by women. Subsequent changes in the industry have been incremental rather than comprehensive. The Victorian period saw development of firmer ideas of gender-specific skills, with jobs being designated as suitable for one or other sex.
