STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In the 1970s, Studs Terkel went around the country with a curious looking piece of equipment. It was a reel-to-reel tape recorder, which he used to interview people about their jobs.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
STUDS TERKEL: How would you describe your work?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I'm a processing clerk.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I'm a carpenter from South Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Boring, monotonous.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Oh, I love it. There's never a day long enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: I started working when I was about 12 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: I mean, you got to work. Nothing wrong with it. People have been doing it for years.
INSKEEP: You got to waik (ph).
Studs Terkel was gathering material for a book called waikin (ph) - or "Working." It became a bestseller. And his tapes ended up in boxes, which were still boxed up when Terkel died in 2008.
Now they've been cracked open by our partner Radio Diaries, along with Project And. We've been listening to some of the best, including this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TERKEL: This is about the work you do. You're a big-shot, aren't you?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Yes. Well, I write and produce television commercials - big ones like General Mills, Campbell, Kraft. And I'm probably one of the, say, 10 highest-paid people at the agency.
TERKEL: Do you ever question what you're selling?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Do I ever question what I'm selling? Oh, I would say all the time, of course. I don't think what I do is essential or necessary, even that it prefers much of a service.
You know, you're saying to a lady because this oil comes from the bottom of the algae on the sea, you're going to have a timeless face. That's a crock of [expletive]. I mean, I know that. It's a part of my job, I do it.
TERKEL: But something else involved here. You are the only woman there.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Well, I'm the only female producer at the agency. You know, it used to be the token black. Now I'm definitely the token woman. And I'm ideal because I know how to handle myself obviously, or I wouldn't be where I am.
TERKEL: Just for the sake of the record, I might describe you as very, very attractive, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Well, I don't make any attempt to be, you know, the glasses and bun and totally asexual image because that isn't the way I am. And I'm not overly provocative either, it's this thin line.
When I'm with a strange group of men, say new clients, I'm frequently taken for the secretary, you know.
TERKEL: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Generally, the first reaction I get is they don't look at me. The first three meetings at Johnson, even if I would ask a direct question about the assignment or the project, they would answer the question and look at my boss or another man in the room. They had trouble relating just on - around a conference table.
TERKEL: So you're the equal of these guys, of course, you're bright.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Yes. But I make them very nervous. Some of them can't categorize me. Here I am, this young girl. You know, she's not married, what's the matter with her? Doesn't she want a real life as a woman? You know, there are always labels that people use. Is it a lesbian?
TERKEL: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Is it, you know, somebody's mistress in the company? Currently the label that I enjoy, you know, in quotes, is a "women's libber," which I'm, you know, I advocate a certain amount.
TERKEL: Now here we come to a key. You are a young woman, executive, creative spirit. You're facing up to double standards, obviously.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: All the time. There was a time when I thought if I'd been born male, it would have been a lot simpler. But I don't daily think of that. I just sit here and I think, Christ, you know, look where you are.
TERKEL: This is a fantastic interview.
(LAUGHTER)
TERKEL: I'll stop the tape.
INSKEEP: Studs Terkel, interviewing a young advertising executive in 1972. She appeared in his book working under the pseudonym Barbara Herrick.
The series, "Working: Then And Now," comes to us from the "Radio Diaries" Podcast.
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