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Canadian Women In The 20th Century

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The 20th Century was a time of change for women in Canada. Throughout the century, women contributed to Canadian life in many ways. Social attitudes made it hard for Canadian women to prosper at first, but with the rise of two World Wars, Canadian women saw their chance and rose to the occasion to help the war effort. Their efforts earned all women a new respect in Canadian society. During the early 1900s, women were thought of as the property of their husbands. Despite the social discrimination women went through, when Britain went to war, automatically sending Canada to war, women stepped up on the home front as well as on the Battlegrounds, and contributed to the war effort massively. After the war it was apparent women could do more than originally thought. Plenty of women stepped up to show their abilities and help obtain feminist rights in Canada. With so many men overseas, the role of Canadian women at home changed dramatically. Thousands of women went to work in factories, and thousands more volunteered for organizations such as Red Cross, …show more content…

Many wanted to play an active role in the war on the Battlegrounds and not just on the home front. The military changed forever as women were allowed to serve in the armed forces. The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service was created in 1942 and consisted of approximately 7,100 members and the Women’s Division, Royal Canadian Air Force consisted of approximately 17,400 members. There were many female pilots in Canada at the time who were frustrated with the RCAF’s refusal to let them fly. Only later in the war were women allowed to fly bomber planes to deliver them to Britain. Women never actually took place in combat, but in 1944, shortly after an Allied Invasion, Canadian Nurses arrived at the beachhead in Normandy. These women worked under extremely difficult circumstances, close to the

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