Essay On Women During The Vietnam War

One of the most important roles that women played, were the increasing large amount of female soldiers fighting in the war. These roles gave women the right to work and serve in armed forces. The jobs that women took part in during this time period made a huge difference in the war, and in turn, WW2 helped expand women’s

Women had a huge role in the World War II that so many do not recognize. Women were involved in many different jobs that allowed them to step out of the ordinary norm as the “typical housewife”, and dive into fierce hardworking jobs that until then only a man could do. Women jumped into the factories and many different roles that contributed to World War II, because the need for more American workers was crucial.

Women were a heavy presence in the Vietnam war. While 1/3 of the men in the Vietnam were drafted; most of the women volunteered. Many women wanted to escape having to settle down and get married and some had something to prove to their families. While others just wanted to help their country. 90% of the women were nurses, but they were also air traffic controllers, physicians, intelligence officers, clerks, among the positons. In the 1960’s, American women took a role and supported their country in many different ways.

worked in factories expanding industrial output, and helped raise money in the community. The women are what helped keep the country running. When women filled jobs that were traditionally men’s, this aided the country as a whole because while men fought in the war, women were able to keep the country moving. Women not only worked in factories and offices, but working in the community played an immense role in helping the soldiers fighting. Women raised money for the war, collected blood, rolled bandages, aided in civil defense, tended Victory Gardens, and hosted troops. Some women still worked at home centering their work around what the soldiers needed. They recycled aluminum foil and other materials that were scarce, they raised children as usual, and mourned for the soldier that had died. Women were assisting the troops with all that they could in order to make life easier for them.

During the Civil War, women helped soldiers by rolling bandages and creating care packages, as well as assisting in other small, though vital, tasks. World War I followed this pattern. But never had women’s aid included assisting with tasks traditionally accomplished by men, until World War II. Women had been told all through the Great Depression, “Let the men have the jobs! Stay at home!” and women, for the most part, had listened. Now, suddenly, the men were

In The Things We Carried, We learned that men are not the only one’s that have part of the war but, also that women are part of the war as well. Have you ever thought that you as a women ever wanted to be part of the war? To want everyone in the world believe that a women can also be apart of the war? Well to demonstrate to you there are three young courageous women in The Things They Carried, that want us women to become apart of the war. Back in the 1950’s women had rights to be in the war and to help take care of men that were wounded severely.

Many people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,

Some of the people and revolutionary heroes in the war were women, George Washington, Paul Revere, and slaves. When men left to fight, women had new roles and jobs to do. When the women worked as carpenters, farmers, and shipbuilders, they must have been very successful because since most of the men were gone, they could do as much as they needed. They took over the jobs that men used to do. For example, women farmed, carpenters, and built ships. Some of the wives followed their husbands in the war and did new jobs in it. In the war, the jobs that they

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

“Not all women wore love beads in the sixties.”(Officer, Nurse, Woman) Many women volunteered for their spots in the war; they didn’t just want to sit at home and do nothing. These women saved our husbands, sons, and brothers. They fought for their families in their own way. Women volunteers became heroes. Women were important to the Vietnam war from being nurses, warriors, and rescuing children from the terrors of war.

The Vietnam War that was fought to reunite Vietnam under a communist rule did not just include men, but also women whom the majority was voluntary. Many women wanted to help out their country and save the men who were injured in battle. Men weren’t the only ones that had to overcome difficult situations. Women also had to go through tough training, nurse soldiers back to health, and suffer through the aftermath of the war.

The sexist stereotypes of men and women greatly enforced their roles in the Vietnam War. While women were not included in the draft and protected from war’s brutality and tragedies, men were forced from their homes to be enlisted in the army. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a platoon is comprised of struggling young men whose lives are challenged each day. On the other hand, women are blissfully living in the states, providing complete security and comfort, both of which the soldiers are not able to acquire. According to society, women are supposedly the homebound sex, too fragile and moral to be exposed to the world outside their own, and unable to empathize with the emotional baggage that the soldiers carry.

As more traveled to America, Vietnamese women were no longer seen as immigrants, but instead as refugees. This shows that women weren’t seen as people, but as helpless foreigners. Because of this opposition, Vietnamese women became intrigued by the way American women fought for equality. However, Vietnam was not very fond of the Americans during this time. Because of this, Vietnamese men did not like the idea of their women going overseas: “They’d rather see their daughters find jobs with Vietnamese men because most of them always looked down on the Vietnamese women who worked for Americans.” Vietnamese women were not only encouraged to stay in a war stricken Vietnam, but they were shunned for seeking or finding work by American men. This played into the long oppression of women and the idea that they should stay home, take care of the family, and listen to their male superior. Finally, there were still gender roles that were defined throughout the world. Women could not catch a break no matter where they moved. Before their migration to America, they already had the long standing notion of women being inferior to men. This made it harder for women to break the status quo in America, even though they knew it was wrong. However, these repressive causes only made Vietnamese women want equality even more.

Women had been involved in the war, for the most part, such as carrying and transporting heavy weapons to the remote frontline, they also were imprisoned, tortured, murdered by the enemies. My grandmother told me about the time where she could not be able to do anything about her friend’s situation. She was executed in front of my grandma for taking a stand against the French soldiers. It imprinted on her mind of how cruelty the war were. The liberation force created programs for educating women, liberating women, and making them warriors during the war. My grandmother was one of the former youth volunteers in northern Vietnam. Her patriotism is the main reason she chose to volunteer to go to war. A young woman at age 21 took to the jungle and joined the guerrilla struggle, specializing in mixing acid, alcohol, and a few other ingredients to make gunpowder. She did tasks that were meant for men, her empowerment and her knowledge got her to that position.. The liberation of women in the resistance wars against the French and Americans are very positive mention. From the anti-French resistance war against the US through, millions of women were involved in the resistance movement. In the people's war, the women’s force built a wide network to be able to support not only civilians but for revolutionary activity so that the enemy

It is worthwhile to reflect on the social and political advancements of women during the past one hundred years. Women now have the right to vote and to own property. They let their voices be heard instead of sitting silently in the kitchen. Women hold jobs previously restricted to men - police officer, firefighter, construction worker, doctor, truck driver and scientist. Obviously, this list is not all inclusive. Unfortunately, there is still one area that remains restricted to women. Women have assisted the military forces as far back as the Revolutionary War and yet there remains positions that women are excluded from. Female military personnel, having proven their ability to handle combat situations and having