Women in World War II Essay

One of the most important roles that women played, were the increasing large amount of female soldiers fighting in the war. These roles gave women the right to work and serve in armed forces. The jobs that women took part in during this time period made a huge difference in the war, and in turn, WW2 helped expand women’s

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

The first time women were incorporated into this profession was during World War II but had to be segregated into their own unit (Women’s Army Corps).

The Women’s Army Auxiliary corps was discontinued because their was no military status at all. Therefore, Mrs. Rogers appointed another bill called the women's army corps with the hope of enlisting and appointing women. This bill was introduced in 1943 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed this bill on july 1, 1943. This bill was passed to help many american women get into the war. Many people did not support women in uniform, as they still thought women were the housewives, and men were to go out on in the war. When the WAAC was first made many hated it, this is why not many women got

War II. About 70% of women who served in military WWII held traditionally female jobs. After the men had

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

The 20th Century was a time of change for women in Canada. Throughout the century, women contributed to Canadian life in many ways. Social attitudes made it hard for Canadian women to prosper at first, but with the rise of two World Wars, Canadian women saw their chance and rose to the occasion to help the war effort. Their efforts earned all women a new respect in Canadian society. During the early 1900s, women were thought of as the property of their husbands.

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).

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.

Consequent to the establishment of the WAC, the U.S. Eighth Air Force requested service from a WAC battalion; without hesitation, by July 1943, the first WAC battalion stepped foot in London (Schafer 636). When stationed in the European Theater of Operations in London—a location of potential or progressing battle, women “received advanced training in shorthand (fast symbolic writing), typewriting, and other office skills” in addition to attending brief courses on cultural subjects at Cambridge University with men of the Allied Forces (“European Theater of Operations” ). A few hundred miles south, in France, WACs were assisting in the 1944 invasion of Normandy, responsible for plotting bomber positions, collecting intelligence, and serving as cryptographers. Because serving overseas was in such great demand amongst women, only the most qualified, sufficiently mature, and stable ones went (Schafer

Women have been participating in the United States military since the Revolutionary War, where they were nurses, maids, cooks and even spies. They played vital roles in order to keep those fighting on the front lines healthier, and even a more important role in keeping commanding officers informed with private information stolen from the other side. Although the Revolutionary War took play in 1776, the first law to be passed that permanently stated that women have an official place in the military was in 1948, almost one hundred and seventy-two years later. Since that time there has been a lack of true growth when it comes to integration of females in the military. In 1994, a law was passed that tried to prohibit women from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. Women are excluded from more then 25% of active combat roles within the military and only in 2013 was the ban lifted which was the final barrier to allowing women into all active roles. This has been a huge step in the direction for women being considered as being equal but there are still challenges that women face within the military. Ranging from sexual assault, discrimination, bullying, and other tactics, it is clear that for many, the military is still a “boys club.”

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.

I realized that although in theory women in the armed forces seemed like a good idea, there are many obstacles that make that reality very difficult to achieve. In writing this paper I am not proposing that either position is more valid or right than the other. I only hope to present each side in an equal light to help others to understand the issues involved.

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