War Meets Girl: The Roles, Responsibilities and Difficulties of England's Women in World War II

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.

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 entire American population made sure they were behind the war effort, and political and social leaders acknowledged that both women and men would have to change their opinions of gender roles. However, this opinion lasted only during a national emergency. Women were expected to contribute in a variety of ways. In order to identify women leaders the government immediately turned to Nation's academic institutions. Even though there was oppression of women while they held jobs, higher education for women was socially acceptable, but the opportunity to use education in the workplace was limited. During World War II and even after it, there were database and networks of academically qualified women whom the U.S. government recruited for

The women during the war felt an obligation to assist in one form or another. Many

Important to realize, that during WWII, Women were very excited to joined the military for the very first time in Canadian history. Women in Canada wanted to play an active role in the war and influenced the government to form military organizations for women. In 1941-1942, the military was changed as it created its own women’s forces. The Women 's Army was set up in September 1939, when women joined the military for the very first time (women in military).Beginning in December 1914, 350,000 women served in armed forces during World

During the Second World War, both married and unmarried women worked in wartime industries and factories to take the place of men who joined the service. Although women didn’t play a significant role on the battlefields in Europe compared to males, it would be logical to conclude that women played an integral role in the participation and victory in WWII both at home and abroad. Yet when one considers their contribution, it is hard to imagine how much more they could have done given the conservative views of gender role at that time. In the context of traditional gender roles and boundaries, women conceivably maximized their wartime efforts by working in a variety of jobs including industry, volunteering, and serving as support staff for

WWI was consequently a catalyst for change in the role and status for women. During the war women were introduced to new opportunities in the workforce due to the shortage of men that a nation’s economy suffered from both during and after the war had ended. The war enabled women to present themselves in a new light to the public through proving capable with their contributed work in WWI. After World War I commenced, millions of men were deployed to serve in the war therefore causing women to become essential in trying to retain a nation’s economy through their needed labour. Therefore, campaigns and recruitment drives were advertised to sponsor a nation’s need for women’s employment especially to meet the high demands of supplying the wars

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.

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to

     “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.

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.

When the First World War began in 1914, there was much discussion regarding the proper gender roles for British men and women. For men, the course of action seemed clear that they should enlist and fight. Yet, many men struggled under the pressure of warfare. For women, it was unclear how they should be involved in the war effort. Many men wanted the women to keep their traditional gender roles of taking care of the household. However, the lack of male workers on the home front required women to take on different work roles. The women received a great deal of praise and positive attention for their work as nurses, munitions workers, and military auxiliaries. However, men were critical

The role of women in war has varied significantly throughout British History. During world War 1 womens role was constricted as many worked in the industry of textiles , knitting and munitions. This said they played a pivotal role in the war effort as 23.8 million in britain were all working. Voluntary and paid positions were taken up as unfamiliar roles to women, Nevertherless this was recquired in order to sustain the living of many families. World War 1 illustrated the capability of women in wokring across a variety of fields. However the effort from women was arguably taken out of context. Despite the rise in pay , women still earned less then men. They held the responisibility of working as a generation of men went to fight. This covered munitions, police patrols and even nursing.Women worked in horendous conditions and accidents were far too frequent in factories. A TNT plant killed 73 people and also leading to the destruction of nearby homes. Furthermore the collective effort was extraordinary , the workers of one factory in Gloucestershire within the four years filled over 17 million shells(BBC world war 1).Opportunities in civil service increased by 1,751 %.

The outbreak of WWI saw a number of unexpected changes take place within the common social strata. These changes were prompted by the fact that a new wave of social-thinking was taking shape and eventually affected the manner by which the society reflected itself. While men formed political parties, engaged in planning war schemes and creating economic strategies, women also played an essential and significant role during wartime Europe. WWI women can