At the beginning, many Americans opposed the idea of women serving in non-nursing jobs. However, after the tragedy that struck Pearl Harbor, Congress allowed women to serve within the U.S. Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines for the remainder of the war and six months after. Before I had joined, women were thought of to be too weak to do any physically demanding work. Luckily, the first recruits proved themselves to be just as capable, which led the Army to enlist 1.5 million women. Women’s participation in the armed services was a necessity in order to win the war. I enlisted “for the duration plus six months” to help free male soldiers for combat by doing jobs that matched a “woman's natural ability.” I did clerical work and specific jobs that required a rote …show more content…
Women were recognized as better workers because of our precision, and this point was proven true at machine shops were women had to assemble any parts for precision aircraft instruments. Women at Sperry Gyroscope Company’s plant made compasses, bombs, and gun sights, and automatic pilot settings. Women worked in logging and railroading, which were two fields of work that were labeled as masculine partially because the two industries only hired the toughest men. Women cut off branches from fallen trees, directed logos through millponds, sorted the collected logs, and drove the trucks that carried them. On railroads, women worked with men to maintain the rail cars, the rail yards, and tracks. Masked from the media, women scientists experimented with new scale models of ships and planes. They worked as chemists in Monsanto Chemical, Hercules Powder Company, and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research in Pittsburgh. Women were trained in electrical engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology and trained as radio engineering aids at RCA and Purdue
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. )
G.I. Joe, the white and brave American male soldier, was firmly the symbol of American freedom and patriotism during WWII. Meanwhile, women were encouraged to be nurses, mothers, and some were paraded around as tokens of “equality” like Rosie the Riveter and “Marinettes.” Now, the second World War has been pointed to as a turning point in women's rights. However, few Americans recognized the achievements of women and most even discouraged them. Because the many contributions of women during WWII went unnoticed, even today, Americans need to learn the sacrifices many women made while still being treated as less than a man. Only from these mistakes can the United States learn to recognize the women that serve this country on a daily basis.
In a 1944 magazine article, Eleanor Roosevelt claimed that American “women are serving actively in many ways in this war [World War II], and they are doing a grand job on both the fighting front and the home front.”1 While many women did indeed join the workforce in the 1940s, the extent and effects of their involvement were as contested during that time as they are today. Eleanor Roosevelt was correct, however, in her evaluation of the women who served on the fighting front. Although small in number due to inadequate recruitment, the women who left behind their homes and loved ones in order to enlist in the newly established Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp (WAAC), and later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), were deemed invaluable to the war effort.
World War II affected the workforce of men and women in different ways, men were drafted to war while women took their place in factories and workyards. Patriotism influenced women into working while the men were at war. Once at work, women were convinced to go to work by the economic incentives, the women learned about the nonmaterial benefits that come with working such as learning new skills, contributing to the public good, and proving that women can do the jobs meant for men just as good as the men could do the work (1940s.org). Women in the 1940s were hesitant to join the workforce, that was until Norman Rockwell’s fictional character “Rosie the Riveter” inspired multiple women to join the workforce to help dedicate their services to the war. The creation of “Rosie the Riveter”lead to, many other images of “Rosie” to help bring forth volunteers for the
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.
Most believe that World War II benefited women in the workforce. But did it really? World War II created war-related jobs and caused a large amount of men and voluntary enlistees. During World War II women played a part in the workforce in a way that was unpredicted in the U.S. history. The two pre existing factors of moral rights and society’s stereotypes collided with one another as the traditional female gender roles were diminished from war opportunities. Two arguments arise from this upset of social norms: a milestone for women’s experience and a lack of immediate and long-lasting change in gender roles after war. World War II served as a milestone for women in work. One aspect that World War II brought change in society’s gender roles. There was the shortage of manpower needed to fill the jobs created by war. As men were enlisted into the war, men were forced to leave their current jobs which left open opportunities for the women to fill these positions. During the war men had two options in the direction that they wanted to move: battling in war, or higher end jobs that were being abandoned due to the war. Either way, men were leaving jobs that needed to be filled in some way. This gave opportunities for women to fill these open positions in the workforce. In the book The Paradox of Change:American Women in the 20th Century, a man named William Chafe asserts that the female work force increased by 50% throughout World War II (121 Chafe). Not only were women gaining jobs at home, but the war created jobs that women would be able to pursue The United States Employment Service said that 80% of the jobs in war could easily be filled by women (Cafe 122).
A huge part of the economical grow of the United States was the wealth being produced by the factories in New England. Women up until the factories started booming were seen as the child-bearer and were not allowed to have any kind of career. They were valued for factories because of their ability to do intricate work requiring dexterity and nimble fingers. "The Industrial Revolution has on the whole proved beneficial to women. It has resulted in greater leisure for women in the home and has relieved them from the drudgery and monotony that characterized much of the hand labour previously performed in connection with industrial work under the domestic system. For the woman workers outside the home it has resulted in better conditions, a greater variety of openings and an improved status" (Ivy Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 1750-1850, pg.4) The women could now make their own money and they didn’t have to live completely off their husbands. This allowed women to start thinking more freely and become a little bit more independent.
Women during wartime situations were so determined to participate in the defense of their country and their homes, they went from performing the traditional duties of cooking, sewing, fixing the weapons for the soldiers to serving as soldiers themselves along side the men. They hid fugitives and even became spies. During World War II and the Vietnam War, women were only allowed to serve as nurses because military leaders did not want to expose women other than nurses to the horrors of combat. Women were not given any form of training and were not permitted to carry weapons which would able them to defend themselves against the enemy. Decisions permitting the deployment of women especially enlisted women, to the combat area was the military habit of over-protection, based on the notion that the women would not be able to cope with the slightest inconvenience without loss of morale and efficiency. It was just this kind of thinking that was continually interjected into the decision-making process when it came to enlisted women, which were often treated as though they were not much brighter than a young child. “The male soldiers, sailors, airmen and hostile wives back home labeled these
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.
American women during the second world war served the military in many ways. Many women served the army by becoming military nurses. These nurses treated soldiers with illnesses, wounds, and psychological troubles. Nurses helped soldiers wherever they were need, in hospitals, aircrafts, transport vehicles, bases, and on or near frontlines. Military nurses risked their lives daily to help
...loyment, economic battles, and stereotypical ways of life within the social order. Subsequent to the war, women had undergone through unfair compensation, loss of postwar employment, and the demands of returning to the old unchanged ways by government propaganda. As a result, these statements confirm that women are capable of great things, but their place in society were not positively affected by the end of the second war. By the end of the war there were 460,000 women in the military and 6.5 million in civilian work. Unfortunately it wasn't until the 1960s that any real, tangible change was seen for women. Without the contribution of women on the home front, there may have been no chance at winning the war. In the end, it seemed that the country disregarded that there once was a period when women were needed and were the main foundation for the country's triumph.
More able-bodied soldiers were called to leave the militia and join Washington’s army. As more and more men were leaving, the implementation of women soldiers became more crucial. “Keeping women out of combat, like keeping them from full participation in the labor force, is feasible only when there is no shortage of manpower.” Because of the never-ending call for men to leave their units, women had no choice but to join in the fighting in order to be successful in the
For years, women have served and sacrificed for our country. Women, however, do not receive the same rights as men. “....About ten percent of Marine Corps and Army occupational specialities are closed to women...” (Elayne). Just because you are a woman, that does not mean you are incapable. One of the restrictions for women in the military is that they are banned from serving in ground combat jobs. These restrictions make women unable to receive job assignments that could lead them to advancements in their careers. As said in New York Times, “Many women can do combat jobs just as well as men, if not better, but none have the chance to prove it.” Women have worked hard to get through the military, yet they are still limited as to what they are allowed to do. As said by Chamberlain, “...
Today, there is much heated debate abut women in the military with valid issues on both sides. Unfortunately, it is rare to hear both sides of the story. Because of this, many people form their judgments without knowing the full implications of those judgments. I have to admit that I was one of those people. I like to think of myself as an equal opportunities advocate. When I chose this topic to write my paper on, I originally planned on writing in support of full female participation in the military including combat positions. After I began the research on my project...
Women devoted their lives to creating a clean, comfortable, nurturing home for their husbands and children. During the Civil War, however, women turned their attention to the world beyond the home. Thousands of women joined volunteer units and signed up to work as nurses during the war. It was the first time in American history that women played a considerable role in war effort. The Civil War had become a women’s war. The extended conflict opened up even more opportunities for women. “When men departed in uniform, women often took their jobs. Five hundred women clerks became government workers, with over one hundred in the Treasury Department alone. Other women stepped up to the fighting front. More than four hundred women accompanied men into battle by posing as male solders” (Kennedy & Cohen,