Canadian War Museum Exhibition Analysis

Since the 19th Century, women in Canada have fought political, legal, and social battles to find their place in Canadian society. From starting out in small, local organizations, to legal battles in the Supreme Court, Canadian women have come a long way. Unfortunately, it took a long time for many people to adapt to the changing roles of women, which made women still feel unequal compared to men. It is really striking to think that at one point society questioned if women could even be considered persons, just a small sample of the many changes women had to face through the course of history. This paper will analyze these changes experienced by Canadian women in that time period and how it affected their everyday lives.

During World War one, the United States Navy Recruiting Bureau, and the United States Treasury Department each commissioned posters featuring women who encouraged citizens to participate in the war effort. The two posters, despite being intended for the same purpose, depict women in particularly contrasting light. Analysis of the contrasting war posters can help illustrate society’s perspective about women during the early 1900’s, their expected roles pertaining to the war effort, the strategies used to engage citizens and encourage them to become involved, and the use of imagery and symbolism that were used to achieve the posters’ objective.

During the period of the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, Canadian women were allowed a rapid introduction into spheres of labor previously dominated solely by

World War One caused the first wave of feminism and fighting for gender equal rights in Canada. When thousands of men went overseas to fight, women had to take over and support for their family. Women took over farms, family businesses and became military nurses. When the war effort needed supplies, women stepped up and took jobs in munitions factories making guns, tanks, bombs and other things needed for the war. The conditions in these

In the past, WWII and WWI, women were very dominant; they had to take care of their children, do all the chores and also had to cook the food. During WWII, women had to take place for the men (First world war.com). The war changed the life for all Canadian women. When men went to fight, women were called upon to fill their jobs, and this included many jobs that were previously thought of unsuitable for women. Women were called up for war work from March 1941(Women during World War II). The roles of the women were positively impacted by World War II, because they had the potential to re-enter the workforce, control the farms and join the military for the first time. Taking control of the military was tough, but women had shown that they could work together and handle the situation.

Most importantly, during WWI, men would have to leave their homes to go into war while the women and children stayed home. Since most men left to go to war it had caused a problem revolving around the lack of workers for jobs. They decided to get women to do these jobs that men usually did. Some jobs the women of the Home front did were railway guards, ticket collectors, buses/train conductors, postal workers, police, firefighters, bank tellers, clerks, and especially munition factory workers. The women had responsibilities to do which gave them an opportunity to do things men usually did. After the Homefront it helped them to be treated as equals among the men because the woman showed that woman can do the jobs as good as men can. A woman named Vera Britain was a WWI woman on the Homefront who decided after the first year of WWI that her duty was serving for her country and then spent most of the war being a nurse in London. At the beginning of WWI, 570,000 women worked in Canada’s industry, after the years almost 1 million women were employed including many working in traditional male factory

A Canadian woman plays an important role and contributions on the home front during the war years. They supported our country’s war efforts not only in traditional roles, but also in unprecedented new ways. Women in this era are said to be the toughest one, they endure all pains and suffering just to be heard and express their thoughts. During World War 1, women roll up their sleeves and took a wide variety of civilian job that once is filled by men. Canada’s contributions during the war years would have been very different if it were not for the vital roles women played on the home front. All of this effort, pains and sufferings of the

World War II was a very important moment in Canada's history. There were a lot of causalities and also a lot of women and men that served in the armed services. There were about 42,000 casualties and about one million men and women that served in the armed services – add the statistics later in the essay. Overall, Canadians were known for their proud legacy and sacrifice. There were a lot of negatives and positives throughout WWII, but there were no turning points in Canada's attitude towards women.

In the years after the Second World War, people created uncountable numbers of historiographical research on various topics related to the war, such as military tactics in battles, individual groups of men during their time in service, and other such subjects. Not much surprise exists then, that women’s actions in World War II eventually would also gain interest and publication for the public, though it did not gain an undivided focus until the advent of women’s and social history grew momentum. Women, despite being half of the world’s population, doubtlessly had acted during the war years, although limited by social gender expectations of the period. As time passes from 1945, more interest in the lives of women and their effect on the war

Canadian women started their path in the military during the first Great War where they played a small but impactful role. They continued to push boundaries and were able to achieve successes such as the creation of the Canadian’s Women’s Corps by World War II. Even with the constant criticism they faced, the female soldiers continued to fight for military equality. Canadian women achieved small successes over time which lead to needed evolution.

WWI was a time of great change for Canadians. This time period was one of progress for many Canadian women. Although women were not allowed to enlist in the military during WWI, women did play a huge role during the war as nurses and ambulance drivers. As stated in the content section of Unit 2 activity 1, “images and news of nurses working hard at the front and sacrificing their lives helped to change notions of women as fragile, helpless creatures.” For many women this was their first time to work outside of the home, providing them “with many opportunities to prove their worth as citizens” (McClung). Another group that saw a period of progress during WWI was War Artists. As mentioned in the content section of activity 1 “The new medium of

How would you come to your country’s aid if you were a Canadian woman in the midst of World War 2? This question was on the minds of many Canadian women. Canada entered World War Two on September 10th, 1939; at that time, the women stayed home to cook, sew, and nurture their children. This is the reason that from 1939 to 1940, the largest contribution made by Canadian women came from volunteer work. During World War Two, when there was a deficiency in the workforce, the Canadian women became actively involved in supporting the Canadian economy. August 13th, 1941 marked the formation of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, through which Canadian women played an increasingly important role in all areas of the Canadian military. Canadian women made

Women’s contributions to the war had a significant impact to life in Canada during WWll. During the Second World War, Canadian women were left to fulfill the void of a man’s job at home and out in the work force and also felt that it was their job to serve in the army alongside with the men. They heavily contributed to the war without and change the views on women’s roles .Society always viewed the man to be the supporter of the family. Those views were no longer valid after the men were off to war and it was the women’s job to uphold the manpower. Women had no choice but to sustain the economy, keep the family together and support the men overseas if needed The economy was exceptionally sustained regardless of the men not being there to fulfill their jobs Women were viewed in a whole new way as they contributed heavily to keeping society together during the war.

As soon as the war ended, many women were forced to leave their jobs to make way for the men returning home. However, many women did not forget the satisfaction of working and when they were called up to do their part in World War II, they stayed in their jobs when the war ended. In 1931 the employment rate of women was 19.3% but after World War II in 1951, the employment rate jumped higher to 24.1%. Many women who remembered what it was like working in the Great War decided to come back to work during World War II and stayed, knowing that they too can contribute to society. Even though World War One did not have as dramatic of an increase, the long-term result had indeed changed the role of Canadian women in the

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to