...period's preoccupation with conserving human resources, they won their case by maintaining that women's physical structure and the performance of maternal...a disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence... This is especially true when the burdens of motherhood are upon her. Even when they are not, by abundant...

...rendered them weak, dependent, and inferior. The Court reasoned in Muller v. Oregon (1908) as follows: That woman's physical structure and the performance...true when the burdens of motherhood are upon her. . . . [A]s healthy mothers are essential to vigorous offspring, the physical well-being of woman becomes...

...permined to toil." The Court's further remarks on the "nature" of woman are worth quoting at length. That woman's physical structure and the performance...especially true when the burdens of motherhood are upon het. Even when they are not, by abundant testimony of the medical fraternity continuance for a long...

...States, 1908 legislation which limited the number of hours women could work was justified because, "continuance for a long time on her feet at work, repeating this from day to day, tends to have injurious effects upon the body, and as healthy mothers are essential to vigorous off-spring,...

...the state's interest in the health of women was extraordinarily frank: It is known to all men . . . that woman's physical structure and the performance of maternal functions place her at a great disadvantage in the battle of life; that while a man can work for more than ten hours a day without...

...statute prohibiting employment of women in certain establishments for more than len hours per dayl. "That woman's physical structure and the performance...disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious," the Muller court declared. ld at 42t. [H]istory discloses the fact that woman has always been dependent...

...unanimous opinion (which, of course, included Holmes's), Justice David J. Brewer explained: "[Tjhat woman's physical structure and the performance of...disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious." The state's police powers could therefore abridge women's liberty of contract because "healthy mothers...

...regulation of the workplace, upheld limitations on working hours for women. The Court took judicial notice "[t]hat woman's physical structure and the performance...at a disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence" and "that woman has always been dependent upon man."9 The Court concluded as follows: ture and a proper...

...Ibid., pp. 8-9. 12. Judicial opinions upholding discriminatory legislation make this quite evident. "That woman's physical structure and the performance...disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious. . . . The physical well-being of woman becomes an object of public interest and care in order to preserve...

...Court wrote, "It is known to all men — and what we know as men we cannot be ignorant of as judges — that woman's physical structure and the performance of maternal functions place her at a great disadvantage in the battle for life."2" The conclusion, long since discredited, is less interesting...