Final answer:
The correct answer is option a) Textile.
Step-by-step explanation:
The introduction and growth of the textile industry during the Industrial Revolution led to the significant employment of women in factories. Textile manufacturing was a primary force behind the industrialization movement. Beginning largely in the British countryside where raw wool was processed into cloth, and due to the profitability of producing finished goods over raw materials, manufacturers significantly expanded local processing. The innovation of textile machines such as Kay's flying shuttle, Hargreaves' spinning jenny, and Arkwright's water frame drastically reduced the manual labor required. Factories equipped with these machines brought in women as a source of cheap labor to handle the enormous demand for textile goods.
In the United States, the first textile factories appeared in New England, utilizing waterfalls for power, later transitioning to steam and then electric power. This allowed factories to move away from water sources to locations where labor and land were cheaper. Eventually, factory owners moved factories to the southern cities, taking advantage of proximity to cotton farms and reduced transportation costs. The textile factory-based production system had begun, and with it, the industrial transformation that drew women into grueling factory work.