This poster with seventeen professions in which women were not employed, or only very rarely, was shown on the Nationale Tentoonstelling van Vrouwenarbeid (National Exhibition of Women’s Labor) which was held in The Hague in 1898.

Around the year 1900, women’s labor had a low standing in all social classes. Paid work was even taboo for women from the middle and higher classes. Working girls, dressmakers and maids were severely underpaid.

The aim of the exhibition was on the one hand to realize an extension of the working environment for women, and on the other hand to improve circumstances and payment of the already employed women at that time. The exhibition was an incredible success and marks an important moment in the women’s movement in the Netherlands.

Source: Image Archive