Essay On Women In Australia After Ww2

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 involved in all land, sea and air services in support of military efforts. Only five per cent served overseas, most of which were nurses. Though not in combat, many nurses were in danger, some even lost their lives as they worked in or near combat areas. Betty Jeffrey was a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service when she was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. As a result of incarceration by the Japanese for three and a half years, Betty suffered from Beri Berii, tuberculosis and amoebic dysentery which she never fully recovered from. This exhibits the jeopardy that both women and men face during wartime. Other military services that women assisted in include: The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), The Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS), The Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) and The Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS). Women in these services had a range of duties, from highly approved - officers – to ordinary – drivers, typists, clerks and wireless operators. Australian women were substantially regarded and their roles in society changed immensely.

Many people still thought that a woman's place was "in the kitchen", this changed shortly after the second world war. 500,000 women joined the workforce post WW1 because all of the men had gone to war. This set Australia up and benefited from more people with a wider experience in many jobs.

During World War II, thousands of women in various nations were deeply involved in volunteer work alongside men. Before World War II, the women’s role was simply to be a wife to her husband, a mother to her children, and a caretaker to the house (Barrow). As World War II raged on, women made enormous sacrifices for their family, and also learnt new jobs and new skills. Women were needed to fill many “male jobs”, while men went off to fight in the war. Women served with distinction in The Soviet Union, Britain, Japan, United States, and Germany and were urged to join armed forces, work in factories, hospitals, and also farms to support the soldiers fighting the war. During this time, women took on the dual

The status of women after World War II owes a lot to the waves of feminism and the women’s movement. The first wave of feminism took place in the 19th century, they formed a feminism group to campaign for the right to vote and become a politician. The second wave of feminism was most prominent in the 1960s and 1970s and was focused on gaining equality with men. These feminists wanted equality in all forms of work, the law, and general social standing. They targeted a larger range of aspects of life and the presented a wider challenge to the “traditional” ideas of women’s rights. This led to a massive change to the daily lives of mainstream Australian women.

Before World War 2 commenced, women 's roles in Australia were extremely different to now. The Australian government believed that women were not needed to perform in any sort of military service, however, once the war began it was thought otherwise (Ergo.slv.vic.gov.au, 2015). The roles of women changed significantly during this time, specifically around the 1940 's. The social, political, and economic rights for Australian women were all major changes made during this period of time (Awm.gov.au, 2015). This essay focuses on the role of women before and after these changes occurred, also the affect this made to society.

Women in the armed forces and social welfare programs both brought advantages to non working civilians. World war 2 was the time that women were given new opportunities to help in the war. The Canadian Women Army corps was one of the women divisions, and had more than 50% of the 50000 women who had enlisted in the program were involved in this section. The women helped on foot with basic essential tasks, for instance, cooking and preparing meals as well as washing the laundry. Having the women take on these jobs gave the men more time to spend the majority of their time fighting at battle and less or the time spent having to take care of their minor needs. Eventually women started to take on more severe male jobs, they worked as mechanics and also had the task of driving around the ambulance cars and other important vehicles around the fields. Next to these women who both stayed in Canada and travelled overseas, there were also those who took part in the Canadian Women Airforce. The women in this sector had been trained for administrative and support roles, although on top of this women proceeded to work in other positions as the war continued. They were working as parachute riggers, lab assistants, and in all the mechanical and electrical areas. The wage for women increased due to their joining of the higher male jobs and aircraft business. The third area

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.

“Women’s roles in Australia changed dramatically during World War Two.” During World War Two the daily routine roles of women changed dramatically. World War Two changed women’s roles radically as fathers left brand new families to fight in the war. Furthermore women’s roles changed as many new job opportunities were made available and the labour market rapidly increased. Both of these were part of how women’s roles changed as they gained a large amount of independence.

World War II was the catalyst that changed the opportunities available to women and eventually the way they were regarded as a viable workforce. Suddenly women throughout the United States were pushing themselves to their limits to support the war effort. Women were fulfilling jobs and responsibilities that many previously believed to be impossible for their gender. Opportunities were opened in steel plants, ammunition factories, and even the United States military. As the war progressed the number of male workers declined dramatically. Society had no choice but to turn to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of our nation for help. The results for each woman varied

     “May 22, 1942, will surely go down on the record,” predicted the Christian Science Monitor. “It was the day that women joined up with the army...” It was obvious; the U.S. needed a larger military force. Thus women joined the army within organizations. From there came Oveta Culp Hobby, the director for the first American military organization of women. This organization was called the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps). Many people were impressed by the strength of the WAAC and it is said that within three months, the AAF was discussing the possibilities of obtaining more members of the WAAC (Weatherford, p.34).

In 1942 the Women’s Army Corps was introduced. These women worked in more than 200 non- combatant jobs stateside and also every part of the war. They served not only as common nurses but also “within the ranks of the United States Army.” There was also the Women’s Army Corps introduced in 1942. This group of 1,100 women was asked to join and fly military aircraft, due to the shortage of pilots. Their job was to fly from factories to military bases and also different take off points around the country. Even though during their enlistment the WASP were supposed to become part of the military, after a couple years the program was cancelled. The last group the, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, was already established. After being absent for twenty-three years, they had to be reactivated because of WW2. While a large portion of these women did the job of secretarial and clerical they had other jobs they did. Thousands of WAVES performed duties in aviation, medical professions, communication, intelligence, science and technology. These military jobs and the other non-traditional jobs the women participated in made them almost like a ghost in their home front.

After getting an education as well as knowing there worth in society women knew there were more than just a wife and mother. During WWII women demonstrated their power to think in a world without men as they were off fighting the war. Women began to understand that they had more to offer the world other than housekeeping and raising children. In addition, many women wanted to continue working after the war as they had held jobs with responsibilities as well as earning wages. Furthermore, women were the ones making financial decisions as well as working in positions with higher responsibilities. Many women as well as minorities were simply casted a side to make room for the returning solders. This created a silent discontent among women

The start of World War I marked a rise in the number of female factory workers. In factories, women mostly aided