The Role of Women in World War II Essay

“During the war about half of American women worked outside of their homes,”( Hughes 2). The number of working women rose from fourteen point six million in nineteen forty one to nineteen point four million in nineteen forty four. “Women were not just motivated by wages or patriotism; but buy the feeling of independence that they gained from the work,” (Hughes 2). Without women laborers the US economy would have never been able to produce military hardware to be successful in the war. Even though women played a huge role in the work force during the World War II, they also played an even bigger role in the war itself. Women played several different roles in the actual war. “A few of women’s roles in the actual war of World War II would be army nurses, spies, pilots and entertainers,” (Scott3). Women served as army nurses during World War 11, there were than seven thousand active nurses on duty when the United States entered the war. “Women also served as pilots, on September tenth nineteen forty two, Nancy Harkness Love, with the support of th U.S. Air Transport Command, organized twenty five women pilots into the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (W.A.F.S),” (Scott3). Women pilots were used to serve non- combat flights, to free the men for combat flights. “Women spies of the World WarII , they were often successful and unsuspected since people suspected women that women’s properly roles were solely domestic,” (Scott3). Lastly

Women filled all sorts of jobs, many of them dangerous and skilled. They worked in shipyards and drove trams, buses and ambulances. Women also built aeroplanes and airships. Farming the land 48,000 women worked on the land as part of the women's land army. Most of them had had experience in farming as on a farm, wives and children were expected to work without pay anyway.

Women during World War II became warriors. They overtook and played the men’s role in their household. Before their men went overseas, the norm was for them to get married at a young age. These women started volunteering in war-related organizations in order to support war efforts. When the men left to fight, their women became proficient at things they wouldn’t have dared to do before. The war made a lot of women stronger and opened lots of doors and opportunities. They would manage their finances, be excellent housekeepers, fix cars and do handyman work.

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

One of the biggest roles of women in the second world war was working war factories. these were regular factories that had been converted to help the war effort. For example instead of making cars they would make tanks or instead of clothing the

Before the World War II, many women only held jobs in the house providing for their children, husband, and the needs that came with taking care of the household, but during the war, this completely changed. Many women were given new opportunities consisting of new jobs, new skills, new challenges, and greater chances to do things that were once only of imagination to them. Women made the war especially possible with taking over the jobs that men would usually do, but could not do because of the war. One of the first things that encouraged women to take on jobs of the men who went off to war was the propaganda. Propaganda consisted of films, radio, and print. These advertisements used showed women fighting in the army and many working in

Women wanted to be able to do more in the war. They tried to find ways to work

The country had no choice but to have the women in the factories. They needed their help and were not going to complain about it. They knew with extra hands that, that was going to be an easier way to win the war. The government called on to the women and without hesitation, they went. They answered to whatever work that needed to be done. They worked a 52 hour week at 68 cents per hour. They were all prepared and knew that their “summer jobs” would end soon. There work dominated their nights and days. Most of their work was outdoors as well. Even though some women would much rather be at home helping there families other ways they still managed to get their other job complete as well.

When the war started, women had to take over the jobs of men and they learned to be independent. These women exemplified the beginning of change. Coupled with enfranchisement and the increased popularity of birth control, women experienced a new

For the extensive number of working class women, it was nothing new- these women had unceasingly gone to their jobs. Women in all different standings in society helped the country's case for the war. They did jobs such as heavy coaling, portering or working in fields.

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

During the war more than six million women joined the workforce. In August of 1943 Newsweek Magazine reported: “They [women] are in the shipyards, lumber mills, steel mills, foundries. They are welders, electricians, mechanics, and even boiler makers. They operate street cars, buses, cranes, and tractors. Women engineers are working in the drafting rooms and women physicists and chemists in the great industrial laboratories.”

During WW2 the presence of men at home was to a bare minimum. The impact this had on women was felt throughout the nation. How women would be looked at would be changed forever. They had to uphold various positions that were usually held by men and reevaluate their roles as homemakers. Their lives at home had changed; they were no longer the primary care giver. They also joined different parts of the military. Due to men being away at war during WW2 women were forced to participate in the workforce, which would change their view of their position in society.

The early rush of volunteers and later the conscription of men led to a shortage of manpower on the home front. Women, already working in munitions factories were encouraged to take on jobs normally done by men.

As more men entered the armed forces, women needed to replace them. By the war's end, hundreds of thousands of women had entered the workforce, many of them in traditionally masculine occupations such as engineering, munitions, transport, business, and eventually even the military. The war produced a leap in women's employment from twenty-six percent in the workforce in 1914 to thirty-six percent by 1918. One million women worked in munition industries, forty-thousand served as nurses, and twenty-thousand joined the Women's Land Army as agricultural workers (Marwick, 1977). For the young and the middle-class, work outside their homes was indeed a new experience. On the other hand, working-class women were used to paid work, but the type of work was new. Many left low-skill, low-wage jobs, especially in domestic service, for better paying skilled labor in factories and workshops (Kent, 1993).