World War I is remembered as a soldier's conflict for the six million men who were mobilized and for the high military casualties compared to civilian deaths. However, it was also a total war, where the entire nation's population was involved. Everyone contributed to the war efforts from civilians working in factories making uniforms, guns, tanks and ammunition, to families with men at the front. Probably the most prevalent group that contributed a major role in World War I, were women. They took on many responsibilities not only at the home, replacing men in offices and factories but also serving in the arm forces. More that 25,000 women served in Europe in WW I, they helped nurse the wounded, and provide food and other supplies to the military. They served as telephone operators, entertain troops and adhered to the expectations that were pressured on them from society. Their actions in World War I eventually led to the passing of the 19th amendment. 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. Many factories became short-handed and had to hire women to cover the jobs. The factories were very dangerous and unhealthy, and the women were only getting paid half the wages of men. The women were not unionized because the Labor Union said that they had to hire many women to replace one man and that the skilled tasks were broken in to several less skilled tasks. They had no protection, so their lungs and skin were exposed to dangerous chemicals. Many women worked in munitions factories, where they worked with sulphur.
Although women had the opportunity to work, many of them had children that needed to be taken care of while they worked. Some mothers relied on family members and friends to take care of their children, while others had to place their children in childcare centers. While young children were being taken care of, children who were old enough went to school. “Bay Area schoolchildren were enthusiastically enlisted into wartime activities, such as collecting scrap and buying Victory Stamps, but they were also identified as particularly vulnerable victims of wartime social changes” (Doc. B). Children could help out with the war effort whether they were at home or at
During the World War II women's role were focused on one thing, taking over what used to be the roles of men. Although jobs such as being a nurse, a teacher or working in the textile department swing and making clothes were still essentially classified as the typical “woman's job”, the war provided them not so much a gateway but a wider job opportunity to work in different fields. Such as in munitions factories, earning the name Munitionettes and working in the Armed Forces. In the munitions factories the women worked in all manner of production ranging from making ammunition to uniforms to aircrafts. They counted bullets which were sent to the soldiers at war, they mended aircrafts used by pilots during the war to shoot down enemies like birds in the sky.
is only a snapshot of one moment in history. It does not tell us about
The early rush of volunteers and later the conscription of men led to a shortage of manpower on the home front. Women, already working in munitions factories were encouraged to take on jobs normally done by men.
Women were not only separated by class, but also by their gender. No woman was equal to a man and didn’t matter how rich or poor they were. They were not equal to men. Women couldn’t vote own business or property and were not allowed to have custody of their children unless they had permission from their husband first. Women’s roles changed instantly because of the war. They had to pick up all the jobs that the men had no choice but to leave behind. They were expected to work and take care of their homes and children as well. Working outside the home was a challenge for these women even though the women probably appreciated being able to provide for their families. “They faced shortages of basic goods, lack of childcare and medical care, little training, and resistance from men who felt they should stay home.” (p 434)
Women experienced a major changes in their role in society during the war. Many women had to fill in while the men were away at war, and stepped up to fill the men's work. Women in the factory greatly increased, which caused daycare centers to rise up. When the war ended most women did return to their previous lifestyle, but many continued to work in the factories.
When World War 1 broke out in 1914, a lot of people joined up for the
During World War II, women worked in many important jobs. While the men were fighting at war, they needed someone to take over their jobs so they can still be getting enough profit to afford for their family’s needs. That is when the women came in and offered to work in the men’s places. The women worked in defense plants, volunteered for the war-related organizations, and managed their homes. In fact, women also became housekeepers, managed finances, and learned to fix cars as well.(History) Some women also served in the Army Nurse Corps, where men would come when injured in battle. In New Orleans, as the demand for transportation grew, women even started becoming streetcar conductors for the first time. These jobs helped women show off their
During WWI, women civilian workers had no official status with the military so they were forced to find their own food and stay overseas. They also had no legal protection, medical care, and no disability benefits. These women came home to America in a time of economic boom, but it was not long after this boom that the US went into a state of economic depression. This depression did not help women’s equality in terms of work especially since married women were deterred from working so that men would have less competition for already scarce jobs. However, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the US entering World War II turned that all around for the women of the United States. The demand for women in the work force rose along with the economy.
Women now being able to contribute to their society while the men were gone were good and bad. It was good because women now had some type of job and they were partially appreciated at times. It was bad because even though they were getting some type of pay, they weren't getting the equal pay and they were always getting discriminated by the jobs they had to do. The article of Striking Women stated that “The entry of women into occupations which were regarded as highly skilled and as male preserves, for example as drivers of fire engines, trains and trams and in the engineering, metal and shipbuilding industries, renewed debates about equal pay”(Striking Women). Women were working but they all earned different kind of amounts,Some wanted to argue and go on strike but they were outnumbered by the people that made the decision, so they just worked until they were told not to anymore. Turned out that women were just there to take the positions, some women were even scared to see what was going to happen when the men came back“they were also concerned that after the war, veterans would return to work and find that they had suffered pay cuts and reductions because their jobs had been reclassified as “female” positions while they were fighting overseas”(Massachusetts
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 responsibility of managing the home and fighting actively in the battlefield.
Since women were working more, they had the opportunity to help with the war efforts. Working women increased by twenty-five percent during WWI. As women started to receive more and more freedoms, they began to work more and some even started going to college. The amount of women attending college rose by ten percent. The jobs that they did were factory workers, secretaries, sales clerks, and telephone operators. To top everything off, women got the right to vote and earned the rights they truly
The outbreak of World War one changed the life of women who were mainly tied to the life of domesticity. Women were taught to clean, cook and look after the children. However, as the men were being conscripted for the war, women were starting to play an important role in the following three main areas. Women undertook the jobs that only man did but with the men at war, women stepped up and undertook the predominantly male jobs. Other women took voluntary work as their contribution to the war effort. Another area of importance that women undertook was the grueling and the important work of nursing; often in dangerous war zones.
During the first world war, there were over 65 million male soldiers from 30 different countries. These soldiers were husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends. Millions of these men left to fight a battle they would never return from. World War I, also known as the Great War or the War to End All Wars, took place in France, Italy, Russia, and Turkey in 1914 and ended in 1918. The war was between countries such as Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Turkey. This war was different from any other due to its use of “advanced weapons” such as machine guns, barbed wires, and tanks. There are many different causes of World War I. The underlying causes were imperialism, militarism, and the alliances formed between several European countries.
People often believed that women did not have the ability to do the same quality as men. This theory led women to be paid less than men in most jobs. “China more fully supported women’s equality in practice, but some job discrimination against women persisted”(Women’s Rights). Business owners and factory owners did not want women to work at first because they believed that they were only good for house keeping and taking care of children. “The number of working women increased substantially after the two world wars, but they generally had low-paying work”(Women’s Rights). Women stepped up during the war while there were fewer workers. The bravery that women had come with no praise. Women were paid less than men just because they were women. “The most glaring content gap in the treaty bodies’ approach to gender equality is in the area of women’s unpaid work, particularly in relation to household reproduction and care”(Garrett). Women often started working as schoolteachers or office work after the world wars. These jobs that were offered to women were the low paying jobs with little opportunities for high paying jobs. Discrimination against women has caused the inequality we have in the world