Women in the funeral industry

Highgate Cemetery. Mentioned in Caitlin Doughty's video "All my Fave Graves"

The funeral industry in America emerged after the Civil war as a means of disposing of the countless bodies that were accumulated during the war.^[1] As a means of preserving bodies for a longer period of time in order to transport them home for burial, the method of embalming was utilized^[2]. Due to the chemicals required in the embalming process professionals were needed to care for North America's deceased ^[2]. As time progressed caring for the deceased transitioned from being a practice performed in the home to an extremely profitable industry.^[1]

History

According to the “Encyclopedia of Death and Dying,” the funeral industry emerged in America in the aftermath of the civil war and gained popularity in the 20th century. In the nineteenth century before undertaking became an occupational specialty women were placed in roles of caring for the sick and deceased^[1] .During the early development of the funeral industry, undertaking became one of the few trades that allowed women to participate during a time when the business world predominately consisted of “landowning, educated, white men”^[1].Although women were not prohibited from entering the death service industry they were rarely given the position of undertaker unlike their male counterparts.^[1] During the Victorian era, women were only allowed to care for the bodies of women and children due to the time period’s strict enforcement of ‘propriety’^[3]. In addition to this fact “the further the funeral industry headed toward becoming a profession, the further women were left behind”^[1]. To further exclude women from the funeral industry Civil War trades journals, for instance, “The Casket and Embalmer’s Monthly”, published articles to discourage women from entering the trade^[3].

Small family owned funeral homes are still in practice, although large specialist organizations managing funerals have gained prominence due to societal and technical changes and the institutionalization of death^[4]. “The funeral industry is laden with sexism and specific roles based on sex”^[5]. During the 1960 and 70s, there was a stigma against females as funeral directors, that lasted until 1980; it was extremely difficult for women to find employment in the funeral industry outside of a family practice^[6].

Embalming

The establishment of embalming is what transitioned, caring for the deceased from a job predominately performed by women at home to an industry^[2]. Embalming is the process in which bodily fluids are replaced with a myriad of preservatives and chemicals, like formaldehyde, that is pumped through the main artery ^[2]. During the civil war hundreds of soldiers died away from home and the process of embalming aided in preserving the bodies until they could be transported for burial ^[2]. Although embalming only gained prominence after Lincoln was shot and his body was subsequently embalmed^[2]. The process of parading Lincoln’s corps allowed the public to understand embalming and see it as an innovative new process that soon became the norm in terms of preparing bodies after death^[2]. Early techniques in embalming where primitive: an article in 1898, written in the Journal of Medicine and Science criticized and brought to attention the way the arsenic used to preserve corpses had leached into the soil and the groundwater near cemeteries^[7]. As a means of monitoring, and establishing protocol for handling corpses, in 1898 the first mortuary schools were established, along with the National Funeral Directors Association, which is still the leading industry association in 2015^[7].

Twentieth Century

In the Twentieth Century, a woman by the name of Lina D. Odou pioneered and advocated for women’s involvement in embalming.^[1] “Odou was formerly quoted saying, "Over and over again have I heard mothers ask undertakers if they could not furnish women embalmers for their dead daughters, and many others to whom the dead are sacred have asked the same question, and I have invariably heard such men say there are no women to be had for such a purpose"^[1]. The lack of female embalmers, due to social stigma, motivated Odou to become an expert in the field by studying in Switzerland; and later in 1899 she opened an institute for women at the undertaking establishment of the Reverend Stephen Merritt.^[1] In Odou’s first class 10 students graduated.^[1] In the following two years, she established the Lina D. Odou Embalming Institute in 1901 ^[3].

Females have recently started to regain prominence in the funeral industry, as of recently more than half (57%) of mortuary science students are women^[8]. Funeral homes such as White Lady Funerals has a staff completely composed of women^[5].

Caitlin Doughty

Image of Caitlin Doughty

Within a modern context, a female mortician and author by the name of Caitlin Doughty advocates for death positivity. “Doughty acknowledged Western society's deep-rooted phobia of death and decided, there and then, that she would devote her career to building a more death-positive society”^[9].

Doughty additionally has a YouTube channel started in 2011 called “Ask a Mortician” to provide details about what happens to an individual’s body after death along with curtail information regarding the funeral industry ^[10]. Doughty was initially unsure of what the general public would think about her segment Ask a Mortician believing that it would be isolating to many^[11]. Although through answering popularly asked questions she realized that people wanted answers where they were not originally provided ^[11]. Doughty is quoted saying “that people are ravenous for information because it’s not readily available. Death is still out there in the ether. It’s the most fundamental thing of our entire existence, the thing that everyone shares and everyone has a deep relationship and deep fascination with, whether they know it or not, and it’s the only thing they don’t have easy access to”^[11].

Caitlin Doughty is the owner and founder of a funeral parlor called ‘Undertaking LA’ located in Los Angeles where she is based^[7]. Doughty business functions as a method of providing alternate funeral services to the public; that aid in bringing mourners into closer contact with the dead by helping people to tend to corpses at home ^[7]. Doughty prefers to provide more holistic and creative methods for caring for the deceased in her funeral home, straying away from the practice of embalming ^[10]. Undertaking LA aims to approach death within modern society by taking inspiration from the death practices from a hundred years prior to the commercialization of death^[2] .

Doughty mentions how “at the beginning of the 20th century, big hospitals came in and took the dying out of the home, then funeral homes came in and took the dead bodies, and you had slaughterhouses and food plants that took away the killing of animals. So every type of death and dying has been removed from society”^[2]. Embalming is the fate of most Americans and is the economic base of the entire funeral industry in North America^[12]. Within the context of the modern funeral industry the process of embalming is not necessary for as many situations as it is used ^[2](Lebsack). Doughty is a strong advocate for moving away from the normalized standards set by the industry aiming to lessen the use of more natural, environmentally friendly and less invasive methods of handling a corps ^[10].

Caitlin Doughty and the Order of the Good Death

Caitlin Doughty is the founder of the “Order of the Good Death” an inclusive community of funeral industry professionals, academics, as well as artists who advocate for and make possible, a more death informed society^[9]. “The Order of the Good Death” is presented to the public as a website that shares articles and information by prominent figures in the death industry that make individuals more informed about the inevitable conclusion of one’s life^[11]. In previous years the public had an engagement with the cemetery as a community place, which people do not have any more^[11]. The Order of the Good Death is Caitlin Doughty’s way of creating a community while teaching individuals to accept death ^[11]. Doughty’s work has a strong focus on ways of “making death a part of one’s life” ^[11]. “If Doughty and the Order’s death-care revolution is successful, Americans will be more comfortable contemplating mortality and dying— thus preparing for it, seriously considering alternatives such as green burial, composting, and using crematoriums that have carbon-offset policies”^[10].

Funerals

According to an article titled “Funerary Ritual and the Funeral Industry” “In the United States and other developed countries, death and the dying process are largely institutionalized, and bereaved families pay strangers to transport, sanitize, reconstruct, clothe and dispose of their dead members”^[13]. “In keeping with our high standard of living there should be an equally high standard for dying” says the past president of the funeral director of San Francisco”^[14]. Jessica Mitford’s book the “American Way of Death” articulates the manner in which funeral directors and employees convince grieving family members to pay for overly expensive services, relating the amount they were willing to spend on the funeral to a quantifiable amount of love for the deceased^[15]. An average funeral in America can cost upwards of ten thousand dollars accounting for one of the most expensive purchases an individual or family can make in its lifetime^[16]. The American funeral industry on average profits approximately sixteen billion dollars annually^[8].

One of the least expensive methods for preparing a body after death is direct cremation since it alleviates the need more expensive procedures and the costs of expensive caskets or urns ^[17]. A recent survey done in the United States by the Funeral Consumers Alliance show that 23 Percent of funeral homes are not telling people about their direct cremation options^[17]. The fact that funeral homes purposely do not share viable and important information with clients puts them in direct violation of laws set by the Federal Trade Commission ^[17]. Possibly worse is the 22 present of funeral homes that advertise direct cremation cost without including the price of the actual cremation (Doughty). In this case, the funeral home uses an offsite third party crematory and approximately includes an additional 400 dollars to a fee that should have been all inclusive^[17].  The price of an all-inclusive direct cremation should be between 700 to 1200 dollars (Doughty). At Caitlin Doughty’s funeral home, Undertaking LA, the price of a direct cremation is 875 dollars although in other areas the price can easily reach 3400 dollars so researching the facility and making sure the option they advertise is all inclusive is vital^[17].

References

Broaddus, Ellen. "The Future Role of Women in the Funeral Industry." Editorial. ICFM Magazine Nov. 2005: International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association. Iccfa, Nov. 2005. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.

Fisher, Anne. "Why Your Funeral Will Probably Be Run by a Woman." Fortune Comments.19 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Gillies, Matthew. "History of Women in the Funeral Industry." The Definitive Funeral Planning and Information Resource Site Wide Activity RSS. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

Hallman, Randy. "Not Just a Man's Job: More Women Are Funeral Home Directors." Richmond Times-Dispatch. 13 Dec. 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

Handy, A. "Sexism in the Funeral Industry." The Other Side of Funerals: 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Harris, Mark. Grave Matters: A Journey through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial. New York: Scribner, 2007. Print.

Kearl. "FUNERARY RITUAL & THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY." Kearl's Guide to the Sociology of Death: Death's Personal Impacts. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Laderman, Gary M. "Funeral Industry." Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

Palet, Laura Secorun. "A Cheerful Mortician Tackles The Lighter Side Of Death." Author Interviews. NPR, 13 Sept. 2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.

Parsons, Brian. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The Lifecycle of the UK Funeral Industry: Journal Mortality Promoting the Interdisciplinary Study of Death and Dying, 2010. Journal Mortality Promoting the Interdisciplinary Study of Death and Dying. 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

Washburn, Michael. "Decomposure." Decomposure | The University of Chicago Magazine. Mar.-Apr. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Tradii, Lauar. "Death, Technology, and the “Return to Nature”." Dilettantearmy. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Mead, Rebecca. "Our Bodies, Ourselves." The New Yorker. N.p., 20 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Kiley, Brendan. "It's Time to Think About Your Demise." The Stranger. N.p., 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Lebsack, Lexy. "These Two Millennials Want To Change The Way We Die." Caitlin Doughty Undertaking LA Interview. N.p., 26 Oct. 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Mitford, Jessica. The American Way of Death. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963. Print.

Least Expensive Death Option. Dir. Caitlin Doughty. Perf. Caitlin Doughty. Least Expensive Death Option. N.p., 21 Nov. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016..