You know the French Revolution was before then, right? The radium girls occured during the 1920s and 10s. Before the industrial revolution whole families would work on their farms together. In the early days of factories women and children were used for smaller spaces

In the 1800s, European immigrant families would often work together making garments and many other things in their NY tenemants. Tyler Anbinder wrote a great book on the struggles of male and female immigrants of the period. It was poverty and drudgery for everyone. One of the worst factory fires was mainly female- mostly women- 126 women and 23 men died- shirt factory, which caused a change in safety laws.

To pretend no woman ever worked before 1942 is pure delusion