Alongside the rest of society, the funeral industry is seeing a higher influx of women taking on roles that were traditionally denoted for men. While the population of women in the funeral industry has been steadily increasing, the last few years have seen the largest jump of women not only in the work force, but also on track to graduate from funeral director programs. This increase in women funeral directors will undoubtedly change the ways that the funeral industry is viewed and will function. In fact, those changes can already be seen today with the push to individualize services and resist the pressures of traditional funeral norms. The changes being made present a different picture for the future of how funerals are viewed by individuals, families, and our culture.
Views are changing in the funeral industry as they always have been and always will be. The term “traditional” in fact, most heavily refers to the past century and a half, as before end-of-life care was a completely different scene. Pre-Civil War, care of the deceased mainly fell to women, who predominately were the ones to wash, dress, and prepare the bodies for burial. The Civil War changed this practice with the introduction of embalming. Because women were typically not allowed to obtain a higher education, they were excluded from the funeral industry because they could not learn how to embalm. Men then took on the role of sole proprietor of funeral homes and the funeral industry, until Second Wave Feminism in the 1970s pushed for more women in the workplace. The new millennium saw the greatest increase of gender diversity in the funeral industry as more women became interested in death care.
Women in the funeral industry have relayed several different reasons for choosing the career that they did, most of which revolve around their interest in offering respectful, compassionate care to families and their deceased loved ones. This need to offer more compassion is a driving force of many women in the industry. One important funeral director, Jan Smith of Flanner Buchanan in Indianapolis, was on track to become a pediatrician when she decided to work as a funeral director instead. She chose this different path because she felt she could better serve and care for people in the funeral sector. This trend is reflected in many other women in the funeral industry because they see the role of funeral director as being an important caregiver role that every person will inevitably need and experience.
Another reason that more women are becoming involved in the funeral industry is because they view it as being an important opportunity to implement social change regarding cultural views on death and the ways funeral services are held. Many of these directors are striving to individualize funeral services so families can feel more satisfaction and peace of mind after the services. This involves more effective listening to families and their wishes for their deceased loved one. Many women are also seeing this as a way to promote environmental and community change. A leading female-director of the funeral home, City View Memoriam in Salt Lake City, has been spearheading the push for her funeral home to branch out towards offering more ecofriendly options at the funeral home, such as green burials. She is also actively seeking ways to involve the community with the home by promoting family-friendly events such movie nights and holiday parties. She is doing this to change the stigmas around funeral homes in hopes that cultural views will no longer see funeral homes and death as being a formidable part of life.
Women have become more important and involved in the funeral industry and most likely will only continue to do so. With upcoming funeral director graduates being predominantly women, funeral homes are likely to see more women taking part as funeral directors. These changes will influence the ways that funerals are regarded by families and communities, and will do so hopefully in positive light. Fresh insight in an industry can be helpful and needed, and as the trends are showing, this change in scenery will influence the industry for the better.