Women and their Involvement in World War II

791 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Changes in American society wrought by World War II

Women and their Involvement 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.

A few roles of women prior to the World War I consisted of cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. These were the basic fundamental jobs that women were expected of women to do,” (Campbell 1) .During this time men were the sole base of the household income, and the head provider for their family. Society had a standard role for what a woman should be. “During this generation girls were taught as children what their roles were as women,” (Campbell 1). If women decided to do something other than their standard role in society they were looked down upon. Some husbands would not let their wives go to work. Husbands during thought during this time period thought a women’s career should be at home. “Husbands found pride in knowing that their wives were at home at home, while they were working. To husbands this verified that they were doing their job as a man,” (Campbell 1). Though all this changed due to the notorious war of World War II.

In the beginning of the World War of the World War II women were forced to enter the work force. “Due to enormous need for job laborers women filled the jobs that were freed by men leaving to serve the war,” (Hughes 2). Women faced many inequalities during this time. Like the refusal from some employers to hire women, or some hi...

... middle of paper ...

...me received demotions. The war allowed women to make decisions, and it gave them a chance to fight for their rights.

Women’s several different roles during the war of Word War II are amazingly vast. During the World War II, women had a great role in fighting for our country. Undertook the hard work that has made this country what it is today. The involvement of women during the World War II has opened up the door for American women today, and the assurance that claims that we are capable of greatness.

Work Cited

• 1- Campbell, Jennifer, Women and World War II- Female Soldiers Women, New York: Random House-Broadway Books, 2004. 320 p.

• 2- Hughes, Linda, Women of the Work Force, New York : Oxford University Press, 1985

• 3- Randolph, Timothy, World War II Women & the Home Front, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. 189 p.

Show More
Related

  • The Evolving Role of Women in American History

    2170 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zeinert, Karen. Those Incredible Women of World War 2: The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Connecticut 1994

    Read More

  • Norman Rockwell, Rosie The Riveer

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Women in World War Two

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • World War Two and Its Impact on the Role of American Women in Society

    1950 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Domesticity In The 1950's

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the war, women played a vital role in the workforce because all of the men had to go fight overseas and left their jobs. This forced women to work in factories and volunteer for war time measures.

    Read More

  • Women's Role In Ww2 Propaganda

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the times of darkness where women used to be worthy enough just to take care of the housework, kids, and husband; accordingly, women were categorized as housewives while men were the ones who work for the livelihood. It is important to highlight the women role in World War II because besides the war, deaths, ambition and misfortune; women during the World War II where for first time in the history; women were valued and they free themselves from the stereotype role they had. The time of labor inequality in the World War II between women and men was staring to break down; however, women were still stigmatized to just be able to work in jobs such as nurse and the textile industry. The timing of the initial advance

    Read More

  • Women's Role During World War II

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    My interviewee went through a lot during World War II and sharing her amazing story left me evaluating her words for a long time, rethinking and still not willing to imagine the pain. She was one of the 150,000 American woman served in the Women’s Army Corps during the war years. They were one of the first ones to serve in the ranks of the United States Army. She recalls being teased a lot about being a young woman in a uniform but was very proud of it. Women finally were given the opportunity to make a major contribution to the national affair, especially a world war. It started with a meeting in1941 of Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers and General George Marshall, who was the Army’s Chief of Staff. Rogers asked General to introduce a bill to establish an Army women’s corps, where my interviewee, Elizabeth Plancher, was really hoping to get the benefits after the World War II along with other women. ( Since after World War I women came back from war and were not entitled to protection or any medical benefits. )

    Read More

  • British Women In Ww2 Essay

    1780 Words  | 4 Pages

    "From Home Front to Front Line. " Women in War. Ed. Cecilia Lee and Paul Edward Strong.

    Read More

  • Women In World War I

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women's Employment in the 1940s

    6013 Words  | 13 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Media Portrayal of Gender and Cultural Stereotypes During World War II and Current Times

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Women in WWII at a Glance." The National WWII Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Hairspray Gender Roles

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is fundamental to define “old” and “new” roles of women to make a comparison between them. The “old” role of women in the workplace involved menial jobs, and before World War II, women were expected to remain at home and raise kids. Roughly thirty states enacted laws to prohibit married women from working

    Read More

  • The Lack of Women's role in society in the 1950s

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women in World War One

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...any of the benefits or rank that was usually awarded to the male officers because they were women. Women helped every way they could by taking on various important roles in the military and at the home front. These women get any training and went started working as soon as they were accepted. When the war ended most of them went back to their normal life at home with their families. Women’s roles in the military have changed greatly and now a lot of women serve in the military.

    Read More

  • Women's Roles In The 1920s Essay

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's

    Read More

More about Women and their Involvement in World War II

Open Document