Given the fact that the women's movement has had little impact on their lives it is not surprising that working class women take a dim view of feminism in general. Many of these women buy into media stereotypes of feminists. As one working class wife expressed her feelings, "Those libbers, they want men and women to be just alike . . . They're crazy not to appreciate what men do for women" (Rubin, 1992, p. 131). Feminist myths are perpetuated in the lives of working class women despite the fact that many of these women suffer dissatisfaction in their own marriages.

The marital life of the working class woman is characterized by lack of financial resources and stress. Unable to secure meaningful, lucrative employment herself, the working class woman must rely on the earning power of her husband. When money is tight, these women are forced to handle the daily grind of family finances. Little latitude

Sennet, R. and Cobb, J. (1972). The hidden injuries of class. New York: W.W. Norton.

Unfortunately, working class women tend to perpetuate their oppression by their attitudes toward the world of work. They persist in the outdated belief that women usurp jobs from male heads of households. As one working wife stated, "If a man with a wife and kids needs a job, no woman ought to be able to take it away from him" (Rubin, 1992, p. 131). Other working class wives believe that comparable pay for comparable work depends on whether or not the male worker in question has a family to support (Rubin, 1992, pp. 130-131).

Ironically, the strengths that characterize working class women also contribute to their acceptance of their oppression. Working class women are strong and enduring. They internalize their guilt and longing for a better way of life. Working class women must learn the benefits of protest and the need for radical change.

exists in deciding how salaries are to be allocated to outstanding bills because there is rarely enough to go around: "Decisions, then, are limited to which bills to pay now, which can be deferred--in effect, to assessing the best strategy for juggling the creditors" (Rubin, 1992, p. 107). When, and if, the working class family is able to secure a better standard of living, buying decisions generally shift from wife to husband. Thus the working class wife rarely exerts power in the household. When the family is poor it is she who must face the bill collectors and figure out how to stretch the limited financial resources. She assumes the worries and the stresses that accompany managing a home with so little money. Working class husbands do not mind putting their wives in such binds because it frees them of the shame of not earning enough money to adequately support their families. As the family's standard of living increa