Throughout history women have been the underdog. They have no other use than to mother a child, cater to their spouse and take care of the home. Women are more than housekeepers and have much more capabilities than men realized especially before World War II. The change in role for women before, during and after World War II shifted dramatically, some for better and some for worst.
Women before World War II had a set gender role; she was the wife and mother. Many jobs at that time were occupied by men. Some states even banned married women from having a job. Women who did work outside the house weren’t glorified and men did not care too much for them. Before the war the men were the sole provider. In result, many people who saw a women pick
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Women started to see themselves as more than a housewife. Some of the daughters started working as young as fourteen or fifteen years old. They were proud of their newly found skills with their hands. Over six-million women had taken over jobs dominated by men when the men left for war. Women were said to have better or more precise motor skills than men. This skill was a great asset to doing needle work for wiring bombs and filling metal casting with gunpowder. This is obviously a dangerous job and it did have accidents that cause over 200,000 women to become disabled and 37,000 to lose their lives. With the help of the women in the factories they made an estimated 300,000 aircrafts, 12,000 ships, 86,000 tanks, and millions of artillery and small weapons. In the 1940’s many women worked the railroads. This employed over 2 million people. The women who took over this job were critical in helping keep the flow of army material and troops. Women also took the jobs of transit workers for example: mail carriers and truck drivers. Women also created civil defense communities to help with emergencies. These women were trained on firefighting, driving ambulances and many other medical emergencies for possible aerial bombings. Many of the women who were apart of these civil defenses were volunteers. Many costal communities scanned for enemy aircrafts or ships in case …show more content…
There weren’t many women working outside the household. The ones who were weren’t accepted by men very often at all. Women’s place was in the home, taking care of the children, cooking, cleaning and servicing her husband. Once the war got into full affect many men were drafted off overseas to help with the war efforts. This caused a shortage in the home front. Many factories had a shortage of workers and military operates. This gave women the opportunity to become great patriots and support their war and the men risking their lives overseas. Women had to step it up by doing more physically demanding and dangerous work. These jobs could range from building massive ships and aircrafts to the smallest bullets and hand grenades. Towards the end of the war women wanted to keep their jobs and the newly found independence that came with it. Once the many men came back from overseas, the majority of women had to let go of their jobs and settle back into the home. Some women even found “pink collar” jobs as waitresses or secretaries just so they can continue to work. Even though these women still had to deal with lower wages and gender discrimination, the war couldn’t have been won without the help of the women from the allied forces. These women paved the way for future generations of females to see themselves as more than a domestic
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
“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
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
Prior to World War II, many women were unemployed, due to the Great Depression which had started a decade before. With men always getting preference for jobs, there were very few jobs left for women. Consequently, not only were many occupations were reserved for men, but men were also paid wages up to five times higher for the same task as women. Some states also barred married women from holding jobs. However during World War II, America produced at an efficiency which was higher than ever. This meant that the women had an increasing number of jobs. Jobs in the public sector opened up. Since 1939, women progressively changed the idea of patriarchy and the cliché thinking of an average woman in the United States to be a wife and mother.
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
Before World War I and World War II, women at home had the roles of maintaining duties for their family and children, such as cleaning, caring for the house, and cooking for the family. They were more likely judged by their exquisiteness rather than their ability. Just before World War I began, women were beginning to break away from the traditional roles they had played at home. Throughout both World Wars, women in the United States faced similar challenges, however, during the Second World War; women were trusted with much more freedom and responsibility than they had in the First World War.
Women had different perspectives during World War 2. Many served in different branches of armed forces. Some labored in war productions plants. Most women stayed at home and had other responsibilities to raise children, balance check books, and some labored in war-related office jobs, while the men went to war. In addition to factory work and other front jobs about 350,000 women joined the Armed services, serving at home and abroad. “Rosie the Riveter,” later became a popular propaganda for women. While women worked in a variety of positions closed to them the industry saw the greatest increase in female’s workers. More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943,
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
Before the war, women in America had typical lives, and many were wives and mothers. America was brought into the war unexpectedly when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. Hundreds of thousands of men were drafted into the war, leaving the women behind. America lost a lot of valuable, hard-working men to fight, and they needed people to fill their positions. According to history.com’s article, “American Women in World War II”, it was then when Rosie the Riveter was created to recruit women to become part of the “work force” (“American Women in World War II”). Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character who motivated women across the U.S. to take jobs in different industries, many of which were previously all-male positions.
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.”
If you were born right now, this instant, at you’re present age without any knowledge about how women used to be treated, the assumption could be made that men and women are basically equal. Yes, men are a little stronger physically, but overall the two sexes are both equal. Things weren’t always so picturesque, though. Since people first settled here, on what is now the United States of America, women were thought of as inferior. Ever so slowly though, the men’s view on women began to change. The change started in the 1920’s but it was going slowly and needed a catalyst. World War II was that catalyst. So much so that women ended up participating in the rise of the United States to a global power.
Before 1920 Most women particularly white women did not work outside the home. They performed traditional domestic responsibilities of conserving food and fuel resources in the early part of the war.
Millions of women before 1914 had taken over jobs that men had already stereotypically done. For example, some women had newer occupations such as typists, telephonists and shop workers. A small number of women were already attending university and entering careers such as medicine and teaching. The war just accelerated this. The concept of the war, meant that women were needed, both in larger numbers and also new kinds of work.