Women's Role In The Civil Rights Movement

1001 Words3 Pages

World War II included a huge military draft of men ages 18-45, causing them to leave their families and jobs behind. While men were off fighting in the war, women became responsible for handling life back at home. This meant they continued on with their household motherly duties, while also becoming an integral part of the labor force during war time. Post WWII, and the early Cold War era from 1945-1965, was a period of mass change for the entirety of the United States. Women became increasingly recognized in the public sphere of jobs and careers, and second wave feminism arose in the early 1960s. Also, this time period is home to massive racial segregation and Jim Crow laws, which lead to the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Act …show more content…

Women filtered into jobs that were originally held by men, proving themselves capable of doing so called “men’s work.” During wartime, “Rosie the Riveter” became a symbol for women in the workforce. It was used by the U.S. government as a form of propaganda to both, recruit women into the labor field and generally boost morale. The image was relatable to middle-class housewives across the country, as it pictures a pretty blonde white woman, who is ready to work, along with the phrase “We Can Do It!” This called women to action, and gave them a purpose outside of their nurturing …show more content…

Once the war ended and the men returned home, women were pushed out of their manufacturing and industrial positions, so the men could resume their work. Post-WWII the baby boomer period arose. The nation was in a positive post-war state, and child rearing became more popular than ever before. Because of the baby boom, women were driven back into their domestic roles as wives and mothers, while the men went back to being the bread winner for the family. This was a hard role for women to re-conform to, for they were financially independent one day and financially dependent the next. The American nuclear family became the sought after life for middle-class white families. This perfect idea of a family included a domesticized stay at home wife, who was submissive and stupid. This is why the 1950s is regarded as the height of gender inequality, resulting in the aesthetic of the 1950s house

Show More
Related

  • ROSIE THE RIVETER AND HER CONTRIBUTION TO WWII

    1836 Words  | 4 Pages

    The role of women in American history has evolved a great deal over the past few centuries. In less than a hundred years, the role of women has moved from housewife to highly paid corporate executive to political leader. As events in history have shaped the present world, one can find hidden in such moments, pivotal points that catapult destiny into an unforeseen direction. This paper will examine one such pivotal moment, fashioned from the fictitious character known as ‘Rosie the Riveter’ who represented the powerful working class women during World War II and how her personification has helped shape the future lives of women.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Women And Civil Rights Movement

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    People are marching in the streets, some holding signs, reading slogans that help defend the rights of the discriminated. This happened in both the African American Civil Rights Movement and in the Women’s Liberation movement. Two movements, one cause; to get equal rights. In the African American’s case, they were discriminated against due to their race. They were oppressed by the Jim Crow laws that were molding a unequal lifestyle for the blacks. Women’s Liberation, however, was about women who were forced to stay at home, because that is where people thought they belonged. Women were also granted unfair wages as compared to men. African Americans and Women were both fighting to get equal rights, which creates similarities and differences

    Read More

  • The Role Of Domesticity In The 1950's

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some historians have argued that 1950s America marked a step back for the advancement that women made during WWII. What contributed to this “return to domesticity” and do you believe that the the decade was good or bad for women? The end of World War II was the main contributing factor to the “return to domesticity”. During the war, women played a vital role in the workforce because all of the men had to go fight overseas and leave their jobs. This forced women to work in factories and volunteer for wartime measures.

    Read More

  • Women In The 1940's

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the early 1900’s, women who were married main jobs were to care for her family, manage their houses, and do housework. That is where the word housewife was come from. During the 1940's, women's roles and expectations in society were changing quickly and a lot. Before, women had very limited say in society. Since unemployment was so high during the Great Depression, most people were against women working because they saw it as women taking jobs from men that needed to work. Women were often stereotyped to stay home, have babies, and to be a good wife and mother. Advertisements often targeted women, showing them in the kitchen, talking with children, serving dinner, cleaning, and them with the joy of a clean house or the latest kitchen appliance.

    Read More

  • Working Women In The 1950s

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    During WWII, women took over the work force, and had such inspirations as Rosie the Riveter. This created a generation of women who wanted more out of life than birthing children, and keeping a nice home for their husband. The end of the war, however, brought with it a decrease of working women. In the 1950’s the rate of working women had slightly rebounded to 29% following the post-war decrease in 1945. These women were well rounded, working outside the home, and still having dinner on the table by 5PM.

    Read More

  • Homemaker to Superwomen: The Evolution of Betsy Rath

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the beginnings of the cold war the media and propaganda machine was instrumental in the idea of the nuclear family and how that made America and democracy superior to the “evils” of the Soviet Union and Communism; with this in mind the main goal of the 50’s women was to get married. The women of the time were becoming wives in their late teens and early twenties. Even if a women went to college it was assumed that she was there to meet her future husband. Generally a woman’s economic survival was dependent on men and employment opportunities were minimal.

    Read More

  • Women's Employment in the 1940s

    6013 Words  | 13 Pages

    The 1940s provided a drastic change in women’s employment rates and society’s view of women. With the end of the Depression and the United States’ entrance into World War II, the number of jobs available to women significantly increased. As men were being drafted into military service, the United States needed more workers to fill the jobs left vacant by men going to war. Women entered the workforce during World War II due to the economic need of the country. The use of Patriotic rhetoric in government propaganda initiated and encouraged women to change their role in society.

    Read More

  • Talcott Parsons And Bales: Leader Of The 1950s-Nuclear Family

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, social conditions made it less feasible for families to live this way. As the 1960s approached and consumption was in high demand, women were yet again, forced to join the work force; but only a quarter of the women joined the workforce, whereas in the 1990s about “two-thirds of women who had children were in the work force (Coontz 55). Coontz (1997) explains how by 1973, “real wages were falling for young families, and by the late 1970s, government effectiveness had decreased (Coontz 54). It was because of economic factors that the nuclear bread-winning family could only be a lifestyle a few can afford. Nonetheless, women joining the workforce created a new understanding of women-hood, changed women’s status in society, and created conflict within the household. Women did not have the time to complete all the household tasks which contributed to the increased divorce rates, but left women happier due to the fact that they had that ultimate

    Read More

  • Rosie The Riveter Research Paper

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rosie the riveter was the face of recruiting women into the Armed Forces during WWII. The increasing demand for soldiers was not being filled fast enough by just males. As a result, between the years 1940 and 1945, the percentage of female service members increased from 27% to 37%. Even on the civilian side of things, the ratio of married working women outside of their homes increased to one out of every four. The population of women that did not join the war was prompted by Rosie the Riveter’s iconic image of working in one of the many munitions industries throughout the US.

    Read More

  • Domestic Containment Of Men And Women In The Early 1960s

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    History defines the post-World War II period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s (also known as the era of domestic containment) as one of strictly defined gender roles. These gender roles more specifically set women to be a housewife and men to become breadwinners for their family, which were stressful for both throughout this period. However, men and women during this period fit themselves into these boxes due to the need to conform with societal and political institutions.

    Read More

  • The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter

    1656 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay: How World War II Changed America

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the war, men were off fighting for America, and the women were left behind to take over their jobs in the factories. Women proved that they can do almost all of the same jobs as men. Rosie the Riveter, a picture of a woman flexing with a caption of “We Can Do It,” became the symbol for women all across the nation. After the war, years later, women began to receive equal pay for the same jobs that the men were doing. Many other minority groups, such as African Americans, played a huge

    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

  • The Role of African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

    2574 Words  | 6 Pages

    The African American Civil Rights Movement was a series of protests in the United States South from approximately 1955 through 1968. The overall goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to achieve racial equality before the law. Protest tactics were, overall, acts of civil disobedience. Rarely were they ever intended to be violent. From sit-ins to boycotts to marches, the activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement were vigilant and dedicated to the cause without being aggressive. While African-American men seemed to be the leaders in this epic movement, African-American women played a huge role behind the scenes and in the protests.

    Read More

  • The Unifying Elements of the Civil and Women's Rights Movements

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1960s, the accepted American way of life was challenged. People began to question, and ultimately reject, traditional societal roles and values. This led to the mobilization of like minded individuals who sought to effect change through gaining political influence. The Civil Rights Movement, the Free Speech Movement, the Women's Rights Movement, and the Antiwar Movement were the result of such mobilizations. Participants in these movements were uniformly deemed leftists or radicals or revolutionary bums by the mainstream. This oversimplification obscured the true linkages that existed between the different movements. From the inception of the Women's Rights Movement, it has drawn on ideas originating in the Civil Rights Movement. In particular, the Civil Rights Movement played a significant role in sparking the Women's Rights Movement, and it continued to influence the women's movement because of their shared ideologies.

    Read More

More about Women's Role In The Civil Rights Movement

Open Document