How Did The Waac Change The World

Women’s roles during World War II impacted the war, and greatly changed how women were perceived from then on. Before the war, women were only seen as stay at home mothers whose job was taking care of their children. During that time period, women did have other jobs that they worked at outside of the house, but they weren’t recognized as much for it. (“A Change in Gender Roles”). In the past, women’s rights weren’t nearly as fair as they are now. Most women were only known as caretakers and could not pursue the same careers as men. According to “A Change in Gender Roles”, “During WWII all of this changed and a revolution in the work force was eventually seen. Numbers of women working outside the home rose exponentially and they thought they were there to stay. Women also played a large role in the military, which had never been seen before. Gender roles had changed in the modern world; women throughout the nation made a huge impact on the Second World War efforts.” Eventually, women’s rights started to advance as more women started working outside of their homes. The number of women in the military increased, which helped out the soldiers and gave women more rights. A considerable amount of women also played a big role in the Red Cross. “They distributed 29 million food parcels for prisoners of war and refugees 13 million units of blood, and packaged kit bags for soldiers. (“Women in World War II,” 1410) Women who did not directly serve in the war still contributed by gathering supplies for the people

Over 400,000 African Americans were drafted into the war. They were able to have more opportunities such as enlist in segregated units and work in industries that built weapons for the Great War (Document 5). Propaganda helped influence Americans to conserve food, eat less meat and give it the soldiers, and fight for their families by enlisting in the war (document 6). As more men were drafted into war, women were able to have the chance to be more involved in society. The Amendment for women suffrage was passed and changed America (document 1). It opened doors for women as they were able to vote and have a voice in

Without women those many soldiers would have died and others would not have been physical or healthy enough to fight for their nation’s liberty. Women were running the household and the farms when their husbands left to war; they were responsible for taking care of their children, servants, slaves and defending the home against enemy soldiers. Women demonstrate that they can do multiple things at a time, and that they can do men’s job and more than

With the men gone to war, women could step in and play a greater part is society, changing their role and becoming independent. Their first step was to change socially and to help the

With a yet another big war in full swing, women had their own branches of the armed forces. American people, both men and women, signed up for the armed forces by hundreds of thousands. The first and largest division was the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Approximately 140,000 women had a

In World War II, women contributed in many ways by entering the battle. Some of the jobs the women held were Army nurses, Red Cross members, factory work, etc. The United States were one of the few countries that put their women to work and was ridiculed for it. In 1948, President Truman signed the Women 's Armed Services Integration Act which authorized regular and reserve status for women in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. These women showed true leadership by becoming leaders in battle and left a lasting legacy for all women to come.

Women have played an instrumental role in every American conflict from the Revolutionary War to today complex battlefields. A major turning point for women’s rights was the establishment of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. WAAC soldiers fought to gain legitimacy within the military and overcome social biases. Their professionalism and determination paved the way forward for women’s integration into one all military branches. The best way to illustrate women’s integration is to start back in colonial times.

Congresswoman Rogers’s crowning legislative achievements came during World War II and in the immediate postwar years. In May 1941, Rogers introduced the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps Act, to create a voluntary enrollment program for women to join the U.S. Army in a non combat capacity. Her proposal, she explained to colleagues, “gives women a chance to volunteer to serve their country in a patriotic way,” as medical care professionals, welfare workers, clerical workers, cooks, messengers, military postal employees, chauffeurs, and telephone and telegraph operators, and in hundreds of other capacities

     “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).

There were many who wanted to join not only the army but as well as the navy. In the course book on page 718, it mentions that 2.8 million were drafted and 2 million volunteered and of these 4.8 million men 370,000 were black Americans. I did some research and found an article titled, “U.S. Congress passes Selective Service Act”, written by History.com Staff. In this article, it talks about the Selective Service Act, which was responsible for the drafting of the 2.8 million men. It wasn’t just men that served, women participated in the war effort. The war led to the American ideals of “freedom” and “democracy” expanding to women. In my opinion, these ideals thrived between 1914 and 1920 due to the war. Women gained the right to vote

“Women who measured up measured up as citizens of the nation, not as women…. This was a people's war and everyone was in it”. This famous quote was said by American Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby, in 1943 the Leader of the American Women's Army Corps. American, Canadian or German the concept of total war affected all parties during the first and second world wars, initiating enormous social change in these times of death and bloodshed. Women used the idea of total war as a rallying cry to lobby parliament to form a women’s division of the various services and 1941 they were met with a success. The Canadian Women’s army corps or CWAC was established in 1941 as a voluntary service. Elizabeth Smellie the former Matron in Chief of the Canadian

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.

By 1943, housewife workers outnumbered single workers for the first time in history.Throughout the war women went to work in shipyards, aircraft plants and other assembly lines. They also loaded shells, operated cranes, painted ships. Many of them became welders, bus drivers, train conductors, mechanics, bellhops, nurses and day-care providers. Women comprised a third of the workers in aircraft plants and about 10 percent of the workers at the shipyards and steel mills were women. Although most war work was in factories, many women found work elsewhere. Many became secretaries and clerks in Washington D.C. and more than 200,000 women entered the special branches of the military. Such branches include Women’s Army Corp (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). These military positions allowed women to take over tasks for soldiers so they could be free to go to combat. Although women participated in jobs extremely similar to men, they were not treated equally. For the long hour’s women put in, their salaries averaged only 60 percent of men’s. However, the greatest struggle for American women throughout the war was not simply the issue of money.

This permitted women to fill combat-support positions, at least for the duration of World War II. Greater progress came after World War II with the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948. This would be the first time that women were permitted to serve in the military during peace-time. However, each branch had a two percent limit on the number of women that could be enlisted at any one time, and promotions were very restricted (Valceanu 22). Certainly, this shows advancement for women in the military, but it was merely due to the shortage of men available for military duty. Equality for women in the military was definitely not a consideration at this time.

After 1917, when women were allowed to join the military, the most popular job was nursing. 33,000 women served as nurses during the last two years of World War One, for the first time women were officially considered apart of America’s military (Time Line: Women in the U.S. Military). The more years that passed with women involved in the military, the more respect they gained in the