How the Two World Wars Altered the Independence of Women

Before World War II, women were expected to get married, raise kids, do housework, and obey their husbands. This all changed when World War II came around. The men were busy at war, so someone had to take over their jobs. The government considered having children across the country fill in, but society chose the women to do it instead. The government depicted work only as a necessity, only temporarily, not as a way to change a women’s rights or freedom.

As the United States was continuing recovering from the Civil War and embracing the expansion of the West, industrialization, immigration and the growth of cities, women’s roles in America were changing by the transformation of this new society. During the period of 1865-1912, women found themselves challenging to break the political structure, power holders, cultural practices and beliefs in their “male” dominated world.

The changing roles of women throughout history has been drastic, and none more so than the period during and after World War II. The irrevocable changes that occurred once the war started and women went to work were unprecedented.

World War One was a time of death, destruction and was in general a conflict of monumental proportions. However, as the cliché goes, there is a silver lining to every storm cloud. In the case of the Great War, the silver lining refers to the great leaps forward made in women's empowerment and involvement in society because of the advent of the war, which forced them into positions previously never considered by either gender. World War One provided women with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to a male-dominated society that females were there for more than simply domestic chores, and this proved to be beneficial for both women and men alike. Women became involved in the army on the frontlines, were nurses and medical aids, played

Undeniably, the outlook of women in the workforce changed following the advent of World War II. Traditionally, the role of caretaker of the house and home was assigned to the woman. Society and institutions facilitated, accepted and supported this way of thinking and way of life. Working outside the home was considered "a man's job". A woman expressing an interest in being anything other than a homemaker and wife was frowned upon. Accepted was the notion that men are better laborers and a woman could not perform at the same level as a man and therefore are undesirable candidates for work in the office or in factories. When America entered in the Second World War, the role of women as primarily stewards of the home was forever changed. As men answered the call of duty, they left behind a void not only in the hearts of their loved ones but also in the workplace. During this time not only were vacancies found in the work that once employees turned soldiers left behind but also we witnessed an increase of labor need for specific industries, such as those that supported the wartime efforts. Women entered the workforce in droves, filling the much needed void in the offices and the factories. Women become the soldiers on the home front and once the war was over, there was no erasing the progress women made in proving capable and ready to hold gainful employment outside the home. This paper addresses women in the workforce,

In the bibliography “Breaking Tradition”, by Kathleen Ernst, the author portrays the changing roles of women during the Civil War and World War II in a variety of methods. These include diction, imagery, and historical facts. By using these methods, Ernst is able to effectively support her claim that women’s roles in society had changed during the Civil War and during World War II.

In the two following excerpts, “Breaking Traditions” by Kathleen Ernst and “A Family Affair” by Gina DeAngelis and Lisa Ballinger, each author supports that war transformed women’s lives. The excerpts reveal many ways that women’s roles changed greatly during the wars and can be effectively shown by taking the excerpts apart.

Many people have never considered what women were doing in WWII when their husbands left to fight. Their lives weren’t easy or normal during the war. Women had to work just as hard as men, sometimes even more so. In this essay, I will discuss the position of American women before World War II, during the war, and at the end of the war.

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

Judith Smart demonstrates the beneficial role played by women with moral authority during both wars. The war provided women with the opportunity to have political power and an influential voice for women’s rights. Women were not encouraged to participate in political and economic components of society and at first, were discouraged by the government.1 It became clear that the war had a higher demand then what the government had expected. Women’s largest concern during World War I and II was the cost of living so women began constructing a self-conscious identity for themselves as consumers to gain

While the men were away at war, 16 million people in the US served in the war and women were needed to help by taking jobs in factories

It was uncertain to what extent did women’s participation in WWI changed the attitude and position of women in post-war Europe. One thing assured is that women’s wartime efforts were recognized in the years after WWI. In recognition of women’s support during the war, Canada, the United States, Britain, and a number of European countries extended suffrage to women. It seems that the turbulence and the despair of World War I had caused a re-examination of many of the treasured values in many western societies, including gender expectations.

During the war in the 1940s, an aggressive media campaign urged more than six million women into the workforce. It is astonishing seeing each year; there were better accomplishments that women were making. Many learned new techniques such as working in steel plants, shipyards, and lumber mills. Sports also became a new and admired era in this time. The famous “Rosie the Riveter”, “We Can Do It!” was a part of the governor campaign that brought women into the workplace during the war. Following the end of WWII, most of these jobs went back to the men, and women were encouraged to either return back home or find a “female” job. This reveals that women were used. They were only needed when most of the men were in the war. In

women were not allowed to go out alone. They had to be escorted by a

Throughout the twentieth century, both World War I and World War II significantly impacted American society in several ways. From 1917 to 1918, the United States’ involvement in World War I began an increase in the number of women in the workplace that would steadily continue throughout much of the twentieth century. The United States once again played a major role in World War II from 1941 to 1945, and this war is actually seen as a turning point for women in the workplace. During the two world wars, women workers were impacted by discrimination, the danger of the work they completed, and the portrayal of women in propaganda during both world wars, and yet the different time periods of the two world wars led to differences in how women