“Women in War Industries” provides the perspectives of two women who worked in industry during WWII. Inez details her background, describing her family’s wealth and that before the war she had neither the need nor desire to work. She stated that when her husband’s rubber-matting business closed, she and her children moved from Ohio to Seattle to live with her parents (Sauer and Lewis 229). The interview then continues to describe her experience while working as a tool clerk at Boeing, stating that she worked seven days a week and was exposed to all sorts of new people (Sauer and Lewis 230). She also explained that her parents had deep disdain for factory workers, and that she had to overcome their judgment in order to work (Sauer and Lewis). …show more content…
Readers can infer details about race relations during the period from the differing accounts of white and black women. Inez, a white woman, never mentioned difficulties getting a job at a factory. On the other hand, Sybil stated that “you had to be pretty persistent” to get a job (Sauer and Lewis 231). Additionally, Inez started working as a tool clerk, while Sybil started working manual labor and was even demoted to performing a more strenuous task (Sauer and Lewis 229-231). Inez did not view race as a defining factor of her existence, while Sybil was more acutely aware of race in her everyday life. Sybil observed that many people thought, “you’re a Negro, so you do the hard work” (Sauer and Lewis 231). This document also displays the discrimination women faced in a factory workplace. Inez stated, “Many of the men felt that no woman could come in and run a lathe” (Sauer and Lewis 230). Sybil described similar feelings when she stated, “We were all told that when the war was over, we would not be needed anymore” (Sauer and Lewis 231). “Women in War Industries” also exposes the differences between the lifestyles of social classes. Presumably, Inez worked out of a desire to support her country and prove herself, not out of true necessity. Although her husband lost his job, she was staying with her wealthy parents and her family did not see the need for her to work. Sybil, on the other hand, worked to support herself. Inez’s family was “horrified” that she wanted to work at a factory, and when her mother found out she participated in a labor demonstration, she stated, “How could you do that to the family?” (Sauer and Lewis 229-230). This, and other evidence in the text, reveals that wealthy families were invested in their social appearance and had long-standing prejudices against the lower classes. Additionally, readers can infer from Roosevelt’s visit that he was invested in rallying the entire
In 1943, most women worked as teachers, nurses, or done some sort of domestic labor. Their opportunities were nowhere near as vast as the men’s. This caused the women to feel left out or unequal. Women fought for more equal opportunities as well as equal treatment. This along with their sense of patriotism is what led them to work in these factories. They wanted to be viewed as equal counterparts and have the same opportunities as men during this time. Not as many opportunities were open to the women so they jumped at the chance to widen them when the idea of working in the factories came up. This also paired with their sense of patriotism, making their determination to work stronger. The women knew the men were off fighting for their freedom so this would give them a chance to contribute to the cause as well as help war production. This challenged the views of the workplace as well as the beliefs of where women belonged in the workplace. Numerous men...
During the time of 1940-1945 a big whole opened up in the industrial labor force because of the men enlisting. World War II was a hard time for the United States and knowing that it would be hard on their work force, they realized they needed the woman to do their part and help in any way they can. Whether it is in the armed forces or at home the women showed they could help out. In the United States armed forces about 350,000 women served at home and abroad. The woman’s work force in the United States increased from 27 percent to nearly 37percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married woman worked outside the home. This paper will show the way the United States got the woman into these positions was through propaganda from
“There was much more to women’s work during World War Two than make, do, and mend. Women built tanks, worked with rescue teams, and operated behind enemy lines” (Carol Harris). Have you ever thought that women could have such an important role during a war? In 1939 to 1945 for many women, World War II brought not only sacrifices, but also a new style of life including more jobs, opportunities and the development of new skills. They were considered as America’s “secret weapon” by the government. Women allowed getting over every challenge that was imposed by a devastating war. It is necessary to recognize that women during this period brought a legacy that produced major changes in social norms and work in America.
One of Mullings findings in her book is the fact that African American Women as a whole have always worked, unlike a lot of their white counter parts. Mullings gives a lot of examples of why this phenomenon exists. For example, she tells us that during reconstruction if a African American Women did not work she was taxed or forced to pay more rent, it has always it seems been a matter of forced labour in one way or another.
World War Two was the period where women came out of their shells and was finally recognized of what they’re capable of doing. Unlike World War One, men weren’t the only ones who were shined upon. Women played many significant roles in the war which contributed to the allied victory in World War Two. They contributed to the war in many different ways; some found themselves in the heat of the battle, and or at the home front either in the industries or at homes to help with the war effort as a woman.
For the first time women were working in the industries of America. As husbands and fathers, sons and brothers shipped out to fight in Europe and the Pacific, millions of women marched into factories, offices, and military bases to work in paying jobs and in roles reserved for men in peacetime. Women were making a living that was not comparable to anything they had seen before. They were dependent on themselves; for once they could support the household. Most of the work in industry was related to the war, such as radios for airplanes and shells for guns. Peggy Terry, a young woman who worked at a shell-loading plant in Kentucky, tells of the money that was to be made from industrial work (108). “We made a fabulous sum of thirty-two dollars a week. To us that was an absolute miracle. Before that, we made nothing (108)." Sarah Killingsworth worked in a defense plant. " All I wanted to do was get in the factory, because they were payin more than what I'd been makin. Which was forty dollars a week, which was pretty good considering I'd been makin about twenty dollars a week. When I left Tennessee I was only makin two-fifty a week, so that was quite a jump (114)." Terry had never been able to provide for herself as she was able to during the war. " Now we'd have money to buy shoes and a dress and pay rent and get some food on the table. We were just happy to have work (108).” These women exemplify the turn around from the peacetime to wartime atmosphere on the home front. The depression had repressed them to poverty like living conditions. The war had enabled them to have what would be luxury as compared to life before.
Sorensen, Aja, Rosie the Riveter: Women Working during World War II. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/rosie.htm, (n.d.)
“At the war’s end, even though a majority of women surveyed reported wanted to keep their jobs, many were forced out by men returning home and by the downturn in demand for war materials… The nation that needed their help in
World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind.
When all the men were across the ocean fighting a war for world peace, the home front soon found itself in a shortage for workers. Before the war, women mostly depended on men for financial support. But with so many gone to battle, women had to go to work to support themselves. With patriotic spirit, women one by one stepped up to do a man's work with little pay, respect or recognition. Labor shortages provided a variety of jobs for women, who became street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. Some women took over the farms, monitoring the crops and harvesting and taking care of livestock. Women, who had young children with nobody to help them, did what they could do to help too. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves.
Koussoudji, Sherrie A. and Laura J. Dresser. “Working class Rosies: Women Industrial Workers During World War II” The Journal of Economic History 51.2 (June 1992): 431-446
Women who worked factory jobs during World War II, faced a lot of problems. In Slacks & Calluses, the author brings attention to this. The women were degraded. They had to put up with ridiculous dress codes. They were made pariahs by other women. Some were not even seen as women. Yet, through all of the adversity and ridicule, these women became stronger because of their struggles.
The article was published on February 6, 1943 in the midst of World War II. Women had become an asset to the war effort and were then considered "At Home Soldiers" or "Riveters". They worked in the factories constructing submarines for the Navy, planes for the Air Force, and became medics.
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
During America’s involvement in World War Two, which spanned from 1941 until 1945, many men went off to fight overseas. This left a gap in the defense plants that built wartime materials, such as tanks and other machines for battle. As a result, women began to enter the workforce at astonishing rates, filling the roles left behind by the men. As stated by Cynthia Harrison, “By March of [1944], almost one-third of all women over the age of fourteen were in the labor force, and the numbers of women in industry had increased almost 500 percent. For the first time in history, women were in the exact same place as their male counterparts had been, even working the same jobs. The women were not dependent upon men, as the men were overseas and far from influence upon their wives.