Role Of Mexican American Women During World War II

During World War II there was many hardships and opportunities that groups of Americans had to experience through the War. Some opportunities that American groups had to offer was to get a job, fight for their country, and to fight for freedom. Most Americans did not have as many opportunities because they had to deal with hardships. Lots of the hardships were that they had to deal with racism, men going to war, and wages for women.

After the Spanish-American War, the United States was in a state of transition. They had gone from being torn among themselves, to coming together and forging forward in the colonization of other countries. However, all this was led by the fact that the United States was also undergoing a social transition that was allowing women to have a more powerful and

Despite the racial profiling towards Mexicans Americans about 400,000 joined the armed forces in ww2

During World War II, Hollywood films strongly influenced the roles American women played, both while men were away and directly after they returned. These films often sent the message that while their men were away, women must be romantically loyal and keep a secure home for the men to return to. The films also often encouraged women to do their patriotic duty and their part in the war effort by doing war work.

In The Woman in the Zoot Suit: Gender, Nationalism, and the Cultural Politics of Memory, Catherine Ramirez discuses the invisibility of the Chicana women in Chicano movement. For instance in 500 Years of Chicana Womens History, Elizabeth Sutherland Martínez, gives us an example of how important Chicanas were to not only the Chicano movement, but to the United States Military as well. “The largest number were in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC)” (Martínez, 81). Ramirez argues that U.S culture and wartime, as well as Chicano movement have excluded the involvement of pachucas, due to the intimidating gender roles. According to Ramirez pachucas test the leading philosophies of Mexican-American identity.

It is safe to say that the Canadian war efforts in World War 2 are something Canada should take much pride in. We united as one strong nation and showed the world how useful and powerful we could be on the world stage. These efforts were also a first step for women working for the Armed Forces in Canada. It allowed women to break many boundaries for themselves as before the war, they lived in a world in which they were expected to stay at home and manage the household. Women worked hard and courageously for Canada and to show the world how strong women can be. Although very successful, Women in the Armed Forces and on the Front Line contributed immensely to the already successful Canadian efforts during World War 2 through the success of oversea

Most of the Mexican-American considered WW II an opportunity to become as equal as Americans. Unfortunately, they had to fight for equal opportunities during and after the war. For instance, the veteran cadet Gilbert Duran

The war expanded the horizons of American women. The war brought a tremendous shortage of labor. Not only was there great demand for labor to build up the war machines necessary to fight, but also the men were leaving employment for military service in huge numbers. As a result society asked women to fill the jobs, and they rushed to take them. ”Women in 1944 made up more than one-third of the civilian labor force” (Foner). There was a new found image of women now know as “Rosie the Riveter” who was a strong welding worker who helped build machines for the war effort. Many women looked up to this campaign propaganda of Rosie and envisioned themselves similar to Rosie. When in fact that it was only typical for a few women out of many to be an actual welder. “In fact only about two million, or ten

World War II was influence by many powerful and evil men like Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin they were all men who were ambitious for power and did whatever it took to gain the power and achieve their goal. They all had a major influence in the way that this war started to develop. A war that impacted the world in the 1900s in which leaders from Germany, Italy and the soviet Union are well remembered but what about the women? What influence did they have in this war? They were many women who stayed home and were major contributors to holding together the labor force. As well their volunteering in society helped push their country through the War. By temporarily assuming non-traditional roles in the labor force and in society, women became an important part of the war effort from 1939-1945. (3)

In Xiaojian Zhao’s essay, “Chinese American Women Defense Workers in World War II,” the author focused on the development of Chinese American women’s accomplishments during World War II. Initially, after reading the essay, I felt a sense of pride and empowerment in my heritage as a half Chinese American woman. Zhao clearly states her thesis as the essay “focuses on the unique experience of Chinese American female defense workers in the San Francisco Bay Area.” I believe the author’s purpose is to educate readers of the World War II period which contributed to a large milestone in the progression of Chinese American women’s acceptance into American society.

In 1917, the US joined the Allies to fight in World War I. Since many Americans had originally favored remaining neutral, the US government desperately needed more people to support the war effort in order to have sufficient supply and support. Women, African-Americans, and Native Americans, as a result, decided to contribute greatly to the war effort in order to gain more equal rights and a better position in America. Although World War I did not instantly grant them more civil rights, the participation and contributions women, African-Americans, and Native Americans’ had on both the homefront and the battlefront—employing men’s jobs, working in factories, and providing military tactics—provided them with more economic opportunities and influence,

As time passed by, women capitalized on their collaboration to win respect and rights in the Mexican states. In “WOMEN AND THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 1910-1920” by Anna Macias, she states the struggles women went through during the revolution and the feminist movement. Macias states that “most historians of that epic struggle have ignored the active role of

Mexican immigration to the United States began in the 1900’s, characterized as a series of waves that reflected the labor demands in the U.S and political and economic unrest in Mexico. (Citation pending) AND IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE POINT OF THIS PAPER IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIRST GET FAMILIAR WITH LABOR, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF MEXICANS IN THE U.S. The first occurring prior to World War II, where the immigrated population rose from 221,915 in 1910 to 641,462 in 1930, according to the 1933 U.S. Census. (McCaa, 2003)

During World War II the U.S. had three different aspects of the war going on. The

The 1950s is an era remembered for the Cold War, communism, and June Cleaver. Most historians, if asked about this period, will mention the ‘Red Scare’ and the fight to stop the pervasive reach of communism in post-war America. Most feminists will recall the iconic image of June Cleaver and the detrimental effect this perfect housewife had on the women’s movement after the massive employment of women during the Second World War. Often forgotten and missing from the pages of history are the millions of women who were ostracized and subjected to discrimination based upon their sexuality. These women lost federal jobs, their military careers came to a halt, and, in some cases, were blacklisted from applying for civilian jobs. Not only were these women forced to overcome gender inequality in order to support themselves in the workforce, they were also ostracized by society and endured unending discrimination from the government and police on the basis of their sexuality. In the face of this tremendous cultural pressure these women carved their own communities and lives out on the edges of the social order. The pervasive fear of homosexuals in the 1950s bred an era of anti-gay legislation that greatly contributed to the horrific discrimination against lesbians and the development of a lesbian subculture. This fear, known as the Lavender Scare, led to a severe climate of oppression for the emerging lesbian subculture following the Second World War. As a result of medical