Essay on Women's Roles and World War II

Women were just beginning to break into new jobs and industries during World War II. In addition to women working in factories and on home fronts 350,000 women also joined the armed forces. In May 1942 Congress began a new service branch called the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps they also became Airforce Service Pilot’s. Although women were getting various jobs in the workforce the aviation industry saw the largest increase in female employees. In 1953 they made up 65% of the aviation industry workers in comparison to the 1% they made up prior to the war. Women were changing their role they were taking steps to better themselves and they were spending less time relying on men.Propaganda like Rosie the Riveter became one of the most successful recruitment tools it depicted the strength of women and represented the ability of the nation to pull together in a tough time. Rosie brought to life the idea that this was everyone's fight everyone had to do their part in the war effort and the workforce wasn’t just a man’s world anymore. Those qualities have carried on to our current generation and it improved women’s roles in society. The war provided an opportunity for women to advance into any and every job they could think of. For women the war provided more opportunity for

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.

Even after all their hard work, the women pilots were never part of any military branch. The women were never part of the armed forces, and their only benefit was the pay they received. In 1944, they almost became militarized; however the air war was simmering down and recently trained male pilots were in need of assignments. WASPs retained their domestic duties, while 36,000 male pilots joined the infantry in the War Service Training program. Director Cochran officially disbanded the WASP program in the same year.

Women pilots can safely fly as many hours per month as male pilots.” Quote by Jacqueline Cochran. These women who gave their time were just as good as the men who did it before the. As you can imagine just like any other military group or some type of program, they had uniforms to wear as wells as do a job. The WASPS uniforms were received on July 1st of 1944.

about 350,000 women worked in newly formed female army positions, such as women pilots, or WASPs, and women marine corps. Men were hesitant to let the women help out, but as stated by womensmemorial.org, “Commanders who had once stated that they would except women ‘over my dead body’ soon welcomed them and asked for more” (World War II:Women and the War). What this shows is that men were not accepting of the women, but once they realized what great workers they were, they were happy to hire them for uniformed positions. Women took jobs as cooks, nurses, factory workers, and mechanics, all of which were necessary for America to win the war. They didn’t need to draft as many men due to the increase in

From Continental Army Soldier Deborah Samson to Army Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, American ladies have been serving in the U.S. Military for several years. Women have been a piece of the war exertion since the Revolutionary War, yet in the beginning of our country they needed to mask themselves to serve alongside men. When they were acknowledged into the military, ladies were given helper or supportive parts. As the weapons and strategies for fighting changed in the late 20th century, in any case, the Pentagon started to soon understand that whether you were female or male; it mattered less on the combat zone.

“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

A 1943 public opinion survey revealed that only 7% of Canadians regarded joining the women's forces as the best way for women to serve Canada's war effort. (The Canadian Encyclopedia). Canadian society was concerned for the family unit if both spouses were off at war. The disapproval didn’t impair women in any way as their roles started to expand, by 1941 the Royal Canadian Air Force had created the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force division and by late 1943 the number of trades for women in the air force grew from eleven to fifty. With the Allied forces starting to regain control of European land from Nazi control, selected groups of the CWAC

Many women joined the military because they seen it as a way to serve their country. The British military advertised with posters of women fighting the war next to men however this was not at all the case most women worked in factories or as truck drivers and assistants. The women of the (WAAF) Women’s Auxiliary Air Force for example where allowed to track enemy aircraft with radar and map out a firing pattern for an anti-aircraft gun but weren’t allowed to pull the actual firing pin to shoot the plan down. Many women did however get to fly planes from factories to the military base were the planes would be stationed at.

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

In addition to women taking over jobs in industrialization, women also began to take jobs in the military. Approximately 350,000 American women joined the military during World War II. Women worked as nurses, drove trucks, repaired airplanes, and performed clerical work to free men from combat. Simultaneously, women also joined the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). These women flew planes from factories to military bases. Records show that a lot of these women died during combat or captured as prisoners, while flying planes. Women demonstrated courage solely by flying

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.

In 1944-1945, thousands of women joined the German army. During World War II, more and more girls joined the Luftwaffe under German’s control (“The Role of Women in Nazi Germany”). They replaced men, who were transferring to the Army to bear arms instead of driving planes against the advancing Allied forces. In the Luftwaffe, women operated

The role of woman in World War Two was an essential behind the scenes effort. Just as a cameraman is essential to the making of a movie the roles women played in the war was essential to our allied victory. In the war women provided food, clothing, funds, medical work, safety, knowledge and a safe and secure country to return to at the end of the war effort. All the help provided by women gave helped prove gender equality can work in society and helped lead to women's rights in our county.

This permitted women to fill combat-support positions, at least for the duration of World War II. Greater progress came after World War II with the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948. This would be the first time that women were permitted to serve in the military during peace-time. However, each branch had a two percent limit on the number of women that could be enlisted at any one time, and promotions were very restricted (Valceanu 22). Certainly, this shows advancement for women in the military, but it was merely due to the shortage of men available for military duty. Equality for women in the military was definitely not a consideration at this time.